


18 vs. 30

by feminabeata



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Childhood Friends, F/M, Flashbacks, lots of them - Freeform, soul mates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-18 11:31:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 175,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5926846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feminabeata/pseuds/feminabeata
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Woohyun and Maeri believe in soul mates, but are they each other's?</p><p>They have been close friends since high school, practically inseparable. When they were 18, they promised to marry each other if they were both single at 30. Woohyun just had his 30th birthday, and they both find themselves inexplicably single. Will they be able to keep their promise?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "Let's get married." (age 30)

**Author's Note:**

> Reposted from my OC account on AFF. It's still a work in progress, but I plan on finishing it soon. 
> 
> This is also a revised version (meaning I'm just correcting a lot of mistakes that I made in the original story).

"Let's get married."

This wasn't how Woohyun imagined it would end up happening. Not one bit. When he proposed, he wanted it to happen in a romantic restaurant with a great view of the night sky. He wanted to put the ring (which he spent hours searching for) in her dessert (whatever was her favorite) and see her surprised but elated expression when she discovered it. There should've been a dozen roses or balloons, or at least a girl who was dressed up. The one who was sitting next to him right now was dressed in sweatpants and a cartoon sweatshirt with ice cream carelessly dribbling down her chin (it was far too cold to be dressed like that, but it was also far too cold to be eating ice cream in February anyway). Also the location wasn't much better, a bench at their neighborhood park. But at least it had a great view of the night sky.

"Huh?" Maeri said as she finally wiped the trail of frozen diary off her chin. Her eyes grew wide for a second out of shock; then they shrunk back down to their normal size. She turned to Woohyun and laughed. "I bought you dinner and ice cream for your birthday. That wasn't enough? Now you want me?" she asked, pointing at her own nose. Woohyun nodded enthusiastically, with a sincere smile on his face. Maeri punched him in the arm, causing him to drop his smile and almost drop his ice cream cone. "You're crazy," she muttered.

Woohyun rubbed his arm gingerly and pouted. "Come on. Remember that promised we made?" Woohyun asked. Maeri nodded, mostly focusing on her ice cream cone. "Well, we're both 30 and single."

"We were 18," she stated matter-of-factly.

She did have a point. They did a lot of stupid things at 18, like normal hormonal teenagers, but this one Woohyun wasn't willing to forget.

"So," he began. "It still doesn't change the facts. Our parents keep asking us _why_ we aren't married yet, _why_ we aren't marrying each other."

"Because we're _just_ friends," Maeri spat out. It was a reflex that both of them had developed over the years when they were confronted about their relationship. It was something that they told their parents and friends at least once a day. The misunderstanding wasn't strange though. Woohyun and Maeri either met or talked on the phone once a day since high school, being each other's long-lasting relationships. Both of them had seen streams of friends and significant others walk in and out of their lives, but they always stood by each other's sides, even when one of them was annoying the hell out of the other, like at this moment.

"Aren't married couples friends?" Woohyun retorted as he looked at Maeri cutely, licking his cone. Maeri was at a loss for words, which wasn't unusual. She often got lost in her own thoughts. Woohyun could see the gears in her brain grinding, searching for an answer. Maeri also wasn't the type to make a decision too hastily; she always weighed every...single option before arriving at the solution that she deemed best. Woohyun, on the other hand, was a bit more impulsive, like he was right now. He hadn't planned on proposing to Maeri. Well, not entirely. "Just think about it, okay?" he requested, patting his old friend on the head.

She batted his hand away. She looked at him, smiling with her mouth only. Her eyes were still lost in thought. "You're still crazy," she joked.

"Crazy for you," he joked back, bringing a genuine smile to her face.

"Aigoo!" she exclaimed, slightly cringing at his cheesy words. But Maeri was used to these, having heard them for over ten years. However, she knew that Woohyun liked seeing such reactions, seeing how his words affected people. "I should send you to a mental institution."

"Only if you come with me," he responded, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Maeri pointed to herself. "Me?" she asked and followed quickly with a scoff after Woohyun nodded eagerly. "I'm not the crazy one."

Woohyun laughed, "That's what all the crazies say." Maeri punched him in the shoulder again, but this time, a little harder. Woohyun yelped in pain, but she didn't care. Maeri smiled with tight lips, tilting her head and goading the other to do something in retaliation. And so Woohyun did. He stole the rest of her ice cream cone and shoved it ravenously into his face. As she was about to object and hit him again, Woohyun shot her a sad glance and said, "It's my birthday," already bringing up his arm to protect his shoulder from her potential blow.

She let go of her fist and ruffled his hair instead. "How are you even 30?" she mumbled, eyeing her friend up and down who was scarfing down his second ice cream cone.

 _How did we both get to be 30_ , Woohyun thought as he watched Maeri pull her hands into the warmth of her sweatshirt and gaze up at the stars. Woohyun then did the same and watched the stars with her _. How did 12 years go by so fast?_

* * *

Later that night, Woohyun was in his apartment lying on the couch, gripping the t.v. remote as he flipped carelessly through the channels. Nothing was catching his interest. He found nothing to distract him from the thoughts bouncing around in his head. He contemplated turning the television off entirely, but the flipping through the channels made him feel like he had some control over his life, no matter how tenuous. Then the apartment door flew open, and his roommate stumbled in. He was creating tons of noise, taking off his shoes while grunting in exertion, then throwing them into the pile that they had next to the door, and finally stomping across the apartment until he jumped and landed on Woohyun. "Happy Birthday, Woohyun!" his roommate wished as he hugged the birthday boy tightly. "I'm sorry that I missed out on the celebration!"

Woohyun hugged his friend back. "It's okay, Dongwoo. It's probably better that you went to your work dinner."

Dongwoo got up from his friend, finally allowing him to breathe. He cocked his head. "Why? What happened?" he asked.

Woohyun sat up, giving Dongwoo room to sit down in front of him, which the latter gladly accepted. Woohyun sighed and rubbed his face. "It only ended up being Maeri and me. I guess that's what happens when everybody has a job, or a girlfriend, or a wife, or kids," he mumbled.

Dongwoo took up the remote and resumed Woohyun's ceaseless channel surfing. Maybe he was losing control over his own life too. "I guess that's all a part of getting older," Dongwoo mumbled in a distracted voice. _And it sucks_ , Woohyun thought. But before he could further contemplate the downside to getting older, Dongwoo interrupted. "But you were with Maeri? That must've been fun. I haven't seen her in a while. How is she? We should all get together soon."

"I asked her to marry me," Woohyun confessed.

Dongwoo stopped flipping the channels and dropped the remote. He slowly turned to Woohyun. His mouth opened a bit wider than usual. "WHAT?" he asked, blinking several times in confusion.

Woohyun threw his head back and closed his eyes. "I proposed," he repeated. 

"What? I didn't know you were going to do that. Wait.” Dongwoo paused to think for a few seconds before continuing. “You guys aren't even dating!” he pointed out. And, indeed, that was true. Woohyun and Maeri had never been out on an official date before _. But it’s not like we haven’t been practically dating for years. Every time we hung out, that’s like a date, isn’t it?_ Woohyun wanted to argue, but Dongwoo’s tongue was still running. “Were you drunk? Did she say yes? Do you feel okay?" a stream of questions flowed out of his roommate's mouth. Dongwoo ended by feeling Woohyun's forehead, searching for any traces of a fever.

Woohyun batted his friend's hands away and stood up straight again. "I did drink a bit, but not enough to do anything stupid." He bit his lower lip and paused slightly before continuing,  "I probably would've asked completely sober because I have been thinking about it for a while.” He sighed. “Maeri and I have been friends forever. And we like each other a lot. We always have fun. It was kind of like…” Woohyun shrugged and casually added, “…why not? So I asked. But she hasn't answered yet. Which isn't weird,” Woohyun quickly threw in before Dongwoo could butt in. “The girl can't make a decision. It took her a half an hour to chose her ice cream, and it was just chocolate, which is what she always gets." Then Woohyun noticed that he had been talking for a while without his roommate interrupting. He looked over to see Dongwoo chewing his lower lip, obviously holding back his words. Woohyun nudged him, "What is it? Spit it out."

"This is either the smartest or the dumbest thing you've ever done," Dongwoo said, his eyes fixed on the t.v., which was settled on a news station which neither of them watch. So Dongwoo was just avoiding Woohyun's gaze.

"What do you mean?" Woohyun asked with a chuckle.

Dongwoo finally looked at his friend. "You guys get along _really_ well. You guys could end up being a great couple. An ideal couple!" Then he dropped his gaze. "But..."

"But?" Woohyun repeated, urging his reluctant friend to continue.

"Great friendships don't always translate into great relationships. It could end up ruining everything," Dongwoo finished. He noticed Woohyun, whose head was hanging so low that it was basically touching his lap. His usual smile was replaced with a pout. Dongwoo immediately felt guilty and patted his depressed friend on the arm. "But I'm sure that won't happen to you and Maeri. You guys will be cute together." Woohyun immediately perked up at Dongwoo's encouraging words. "Do you think she'll say yes?" Dongwoo asked.

Woohyun shot him a skeptical look. "Of course! Look at me! Who wouldn't want to marry this?" he said, showing off his figure and handsome face.

"I'd marry you," Dongwoo joked, stroking his friend's arm tenderly. 

Woohyun giggled and wiggled away from Dongwoo. "I'm sorry, but I'm already taken." He got up from the couch and waved to his friend. "Good night!"

"But she didn't even say anything yet," Dongwoo said, calling after his friend who was already in his bedroom with his door shut. "Crazy kid," he muttered under his breath as he continued to flip through the channels.

* * *

"You did what?!" Sungyeol said, practically spitting out his coffee. The lanky man was leaning on the wall of Woohyun's cubicle as the co-workers exchanged small talk.

"Why is that everyone's reaction?" Woohyun muttered under his breath, not removing his gaze from his computer. He was in charge of social media at his company, which was perfect for him, who was always on his phone texting friends, posting to his Twitter account and Instagram. He also had a couple hundred followers (almost 1000), which was impressive for someone like him, a man who rarely stepped foot outside his hometown.

Sungyeol moved in closer to his co-worker. "Aish! I should've come. I would've loved seeing that. Too bad my wife had already made plans for us. We went out with her friend and her husband. It was _so_ boring." He then chuckled and nudged Woohyun. "That's something you'll have to get used to soon."

 _But she didn't even say yes yet. There's no reason for her not to, but still_ , Woohyun thought. But there was no reason for him to tell this to Sungyeol. He wasn't as good as a listener as Dongwoo. In fact, Sungyeol didn't even notice that Woohyun hadn't said anything in a while. He was just recounting the couple date he had last night, how the only sport the friend's husband played was Starcraft and how that's not even a sport. But Woohyun enjoyed his useless chatter. It took his mind off of his own problems. Besides, Sungyeol always told stories in an entertaining way, even if the story itself was mundane.

When Sungyeol finished his story and left the cubicle, Woohyun's thoughts were entirely focused on marriage. _Even freakin' Lee Sungyeol is married. Why not me?_

Ever since his brother, Boohyun, got married, his parents had focused all of their attention on marrying off their last son. And since Maeri was the only girl who managed to stick around, they swore to Woohyun that she was _the one_. To make matters even worse, his parents and hers got along famously and were good friends, so her parents were in on the act too. But Woohyun didn’t think that he was ready to settle down...that was until his brother had a kid six months ago, a cute, completely loveable, little baby girl. The first time he ever held his niece, it stirred something inside his heart. He wanted his own. He wanted his own beautiful wife and his own house with a yard and red door. He wanted it all. 

_She'll say yes, won't she?_

* * *

It took all of Maeri's willpower not to call her mother. She always turned to her mom for advice every time she face a difficult decision. Maeri had accepted long ago that her parents really did know best. But they wouldn't be able to offer an unbiased opinion this time around. They loved Woohyun. They already considered him as their son, and her little brother, Jonghyun, idolized him. If she had told them, the wedding date would be set for the very next day.

So she sat at the front desk in the auction house she worked at, head resting upon the slick, oak surface, staring unblinkingly at her phone. A slender, aged hand picked up the phone. "No phones at work," a voice said in a monitory tone.

Maeri immediately jerked up her head and saw the slender figure of her boss. She began to apologize profusely, "Debah! I'm so sorry. I was just..."

Debah put her hand up to stop the woman's apologetic rambling. She stared down at Maeri with a concerned expression and crossed her arms. "You've been in an odd mood all day. Is everything alright?"

Maeri paused. She knew that she shouldn't let her personal life affect her work so much. She stood up straight and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm just tired. I haven't been sleeping well lately,” she responded as coolly as she could.

"Well, get some sleep tonight. I need your cheery attitude and signature smile tomorrow. You're doing an estate appraisal tomorrow," she said and walked away. But before she crossed the threshold into the backroom, she finished, "It's an hour away, so go to bed early. Oh yea, take the intern." Then the middle-aged woman disappeared completely into the backroom.

"But my phone..." Maeri muttered, reaching out fruitlessly at her boss' back. She wouldn't be seeing her cell phone for the rest of the day, which might be best, to avoid the temptation.

She placed her head back onto the desk and surveyed the empty shop, wondering how she still had a job with such slow business. She sighed and placed her head in her hands. _Me and Woohyun...Woohyun and I...why the hell not? But..._

"NOONA!" a voice called out to her. A boy bounced from the back room, sitting himself right next to Maeri. "DId you hear? I'm going with you! This is my first estate appraisal. I am so excited!"

Maeri couldn't help but to smile at the boy's uncontrollable enthusiasm. This intern was so full of energy. Where the hell did he get it? After turning 30 only a month ago, she felt so old and tired. She would love to siphon some of the energy away from this kid. "Sungjong, you know why there are estate appraisals, right?" she asked. The boy shook his mop of black hair. She hated to burst his happy bubble, but it was better now than tomorrow. "Normally someone has died and a relative asks us to help sell their items."

"So," the wide-eyed boy began. "We're going to be touching some dead guy's stuff?" he asked with a shiver.

"Yep, and appraising it. But most importantly, we'll be dealing with the relatives. They'll be grieving, so we'll have to be as pleasant and warm as possible," Maeri said, ending with a soothing voice that would rival a yoga instructor. "So give me your best smile." Sungjong then gave the warmest most energizing smile that Maeri had ever seen. She immediately lifted her hand and dragged it across his face. "You're so pretty, I hate you."

Sungjong pulled away and laughed. "Don't be jealous, Noona. You're not half-bad."

"Aigoo. Kids these days, where do you learn your manners?" she grumbled.

"My mom!" Sungjong cheerfully responded to the rhetorical question. Maeri giggled lightly and looked at him. Sungjong's cute response reminded her of Woohyun. She then immediately felt an urge to call her friend, but she shouldn't, not until she had an answer...or her phone back from her boss' tight grasp.

_I have to make a decision soon. I can't just avoid him forever._

 


	2. "Let's get married." (age 18)

"Let's get married!"

Woohyun choked on his water. "Now?" he asked, sputtering. He looked at Maeri who was calmly lying down in the grass, watching the clouds pass by. A smile crossed her serene face.

"No, like when we're old. Like when we’re 30," she said, turning to Woohyun. For once, Woohyun was speechless. His mouth was hanging wide-open. Water was dripping out of his mouth, down his chin. She pulled her stunned friend down to lie in the grass besides her. Both of them looked up at the clouds wordlessly.

They had just finished practicing soccer together, which they tried to do at least once a week. But lately, their weekly practice had turned biweekly, then monthly. Maeri felt like they were drifting apart, just like the clouds that were floating further and further apart in the sky. Each of them were busy with their own team practices and schoolwork. They even started hanging out with different circles of friends. And they were spending less and less time with each other.

Their last year of high school was slowly winding down. Maeri felt as if their friendship might be winding down along with it. Next year, they'd be going to different colleges. The colleges were only an hour apart from each other, but that was an hour more than they had ever been apart from each other. These last few years, they’ve only had to cross the street to see each other (as they lived on the same block). But now they’d have to cross entire towns.

Maeri was scared of losing her best friend, the best that she’d ever had. She wanted him to stay by her side forever. She needed some way to maintain their connection, no matter how desperate it sounded. Before she knew it, her proposal snuck past her lips. Not being able to reel it back into her mouth, she tried to play it off as coolly as possible, but inside her heart was pounding as fast as a hummingbird's wings.

A deep, throaty laughter came from her side. She turned around to see Woohyun rolling around in the grass, clutching his sides, laughing uncontrollably. Her heart stopped. Maeri didn't know what to make of this reaction. "What? Did I say something weird?" she asked.

Woohyun finally calmed down, taking in deep breaths. "Me? You want to marry me?" he asked, pointing to himself. Maeri simply nodded. "What should I do?” Woohyun shrugged as he was still laughing. “I'm already marrying Hyori."

"Hyori? Lee Hyori? The singer?" she asked. Woohyun nodded innocently to all of her questions. Now it was her turn to roll in the grass laughing hysterically.

Woohyun curiously observed her with a slight smile. "What? She's the perfect woman for me. My heart only belongs to her," he finished clutching his chest and looking up dreamily into the sky.

Maeri, gasping for air, finally conquered her giggle fit. Wiping tears from her eyes, she asked, "Okay what if by some crazy circumstance Hyori doesn't marry you?"

"She has to be crazy not to marry me," Woohyun said in all seriousness.

"I know, right? But let's say she did," Maeri continued.

"Okay," Woohyun said cautiously, allowing his friend to finish up with her crazy hypothetical situation.

"And we're both single at 30 and completely out of options," the more Maeri built up this situation, the more her voice drifted into doubt. "And we're still good friends."

Woohyun looked her in the eyes. She had never seen him look so serious. "Why wouldn't we be?" he asked.

That question immediately warmed her heart and filled her with the confidence that she needed to finish her question. "Will you _even_ consider marrying me?" Maeri finally asked, focusing her attention on the ground, playing with the grass in between her fingers.

Woohyun grabbed her hand, which was laying next to his. A big smile took over his face, and his eyes melted into his smile. "Of course. Even if I had options, you'll still be my number one choice," he said, making the number 1 with his free hand.

Maeri squeezed his hand in delight. "But after Hyori?" she asked. Woohyun nodded. Maeri scoffed, "What does she have that I don't?"

"Boobs," Woohyun joked. Maeri sat up, began to pull grass from the ground, and throw it at him. "Yah! Yah! Yah!" he yelled, trying to avoid her grass attacks by rolling over. "That's not good for the field."

Maeri immediately stopped and dropped the fistfuls of grass from her hands. "Oh right." she meekly agreed. She smiled apologetically to the ground and began to pat it gently. "I'm sorry, soccer field. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please forgive me, and let my team win our game tomorrow. If you could make the other team trip and fall flat on their faces, I promise never to hurt you again."

As Woohyun watched his friend apologize to the earth, he couldn't fight back his smile. Even then, he knew that he wouldn't ever forget the promise that they made.


	3. "Do you believe in soul mates?" (age 30)

Woohyun was a man who believed in destiny. He _knew_ for certain that he had a soul mate somewhere out there, the perfect woman for him, someone that he was meant to love forever and for always. Someone who would love him back just as much (or maybe more if he was lucky).

Yes, Woohyun was single now, but it wasn’t like he wasn’t actively searching for her. Woohyun dated. He dated a lot. He dated girls with varying personalities and styles, ranging from princesses to tomboys, from bookish types to adrenaline junkies. He tried them all. His ideal type was ‘woman’ which didn’t help to narrow down the field. All he wanted in a partner was someone who connected with him on a deeper level, who understood him implicitly. Unfortunately, that’s not easy to find or as obvious.

While Woohyun tried his best, he couldn’t say the same for Maeri. She was too picky. Whereas Woohyun had run out of fingers (and almost toes) to use to count the number of relationships he had, he could count the number of serious relationships that Maeri was involved in on one hand. It’s not that she was unattractive (Woohyun was sometimes stunned by how pretty she could be when she tried), but she could be a bit standoffish. It also didn’t help that Maeri’s version of flirting with a guy was to stop talking to him and basically avoid him altogether, her shyness getting the better of her.

Perhaps the biggest bane in Woohyun’s and Maeri’s romantic relationships was each other. They had a tendency of intimidating each other’s significant others with their closeness. On more than one occasion, Woohyun was dumped because his girlfriend at the time thought he was cheating on her with Maeri. Those types of accusations hurt Woohyun deeply. He was a loyal guy, as loyal as a dog. He would never even dream of cheating.

He was pretty sure that Maeri had been accused of the same thing, but she would never tell him for fear of incidentally blaming Woohyun for her relationship’s demise. He would never blame her. Their friendship was nothing to be ashamed of or to be condemned.

Which brought him back to the topic of soul mates. Maybe the reason why all their relationships failed, why he couldn’t find his “other half” anywhere, was because she was right by his side all along. There _had_ to be a reason why they were both single now at 30, fulfilling the requirements of their 12 year-old promise. Maybe it _was_ destiny.

Woohyun contemplated all of these things as he lied on his bed, trying to fall asleep, but he couldn’t. His mind was whirring with thoughts of destiny and fate. He also felt like he was missing something, like he had forgotten to do something, like to turn off the stove or the light in the living room. He smiled sadly when he realized what it was. For the first time in 15 years, he and Maeri hadn’t talked for an entire day.

It was strange.

He picked up his cell phone, debating whether to send her his usual “goodnight” text, but he had to refrain. Maeri needed time to mull things over. He knew that if would send her a text right now, she would respond, but with a shortly worded text written out of courtesy and social obligation. No, she had to be the one to restart their line of communication.

However, the silence was slowly killing him. He didn’t know if he could last another day.

“Damn it! Make a decision, woman,” he cursed under his breath, clutching his phone as he tried to drift into a deep sleep.

But he didn’t catch a wink of sleep that night.

* * *

“Sungjong-ah!” Maeri shouted out into the open air, her head hanging outside her car window. “Yah! Lee…Sung…jong!” She called out again, honking her horn at every syllable.

Finally, Sungjong emerged from the auction house, drowsily shuffling his feet towards the car, carrying two cups of coffee in his hands. With difficulty, he opened the passenger side door, balancing both of the cups in one hand. After noticing his struggle, Maeri grabbed the cups from his hand and placed him in the cup holders. “Oh, thanks, Noona,” he said as he slid into his seat. After buckling himself in, he let out a great, big yawn, throwing his head back onto the headrest. “Augh!” he whined. “Why do we have to get up so early?”

“The guy lives an hour away,” Maeri said while putting the car into drive and starting their long journey. “So that gives us plenty of time to get to know each other,” she finished, giving a bright smile to the intern.

He scoffed, “How can you be so perky so early in the morning?”

“This is my second cup of coffee,” she giggled, taking a sip from the fresh cup that Sungjong gave her. “I’ll probably have…at least 3 more. Do you think the guy has a coffee maker?” she asked, slightly fearing that she might be entering into a coffee-free territory. Then she waved her hand, dismissing her fears. “Forget it! There’ll be coffee shops nearby. I can get my trusty intern to go pick some up!” She ended by pointing at Sungjong with a big smile.

Sungjong yawned as he stared at her curiously. “Your addiction to coffee scares me,” he joked.

Maeri forced out a giggle, but her recent dependence on coffee scared her too. She couldn’t sleep at all last night. Her brain was still churning and chugging, completely unable to shut it off. What forced her brain work into overtime was the fact that Woohyun hadn’t sent her his usual text last night. She knew why he didn’t. He didn’t want to pressure her; he was patiently waiting for an answer. But the silence between them was becoming unbearable for her.

“Noona! We just missed the turn!” Sungjong shouted, bringing Maeri out of her thoughts and back into the real world. “Aren’t you listening to the GPS?”

“Oh sorry! I thought it meant the next turn,” Maeri lied. Then she began to tap on the screen of the GPS. “These things are so hard to read.” She then turned the car around and took the appropriate turn, setting them back on track.

Then, a silence overcame the car. Sungjong was slowly falling asleep, his head resting on the window. Maeri couldn’t stand him being quite too, so she shook him awake. “Come on! I need your help. You’re my co-pilot,” she urged the young man.

Sungjong stretched in his seat and turned towards Maeri. “That’s right! You might take a wrong turn again,” he said.

“I’ve never really been good at directions,” she admitted. She felt another lull in their conversation slowly building up, so she tried to counter it the best she could. “Sungjong-ah, want to play a game?”

He perked up a little at the prospect. “What is it?”

“20 questions. You can ask me 20 questions about anything,” she proposed.

“Anything?” he asked wide-eyed.

“Yep, anything,” Maeri answered, hoping that she wouldn’t regret it.

“Call!” he shouted enthusiastically. Then he put a finger up to his lips, tapping them as he thought. After mulling it over, he finally asked, “What are the chances of this internship turning into an actual job?”

“Really?!” Maeri said in shock. “You can ask any question. Any _personal_ question about me. Even about my deepest darkest secrets. And you ask about your job?”

Sungjong replied, “Hey! It’s important for me!” Then a sly smile appeared on his normally innocent face. “Besides I have still have 19 other questions. I can ask the about your deepest darkest secrets later,” he spoke in a threatening tone.

“Tch! You sly little thing,” she muttered. Then she answered his question in all seriousness. “This estate appraisal is actually a test. If you perform well, we’ll hire you on. I just didn’t want to tell you. You know, so you wouldn’t freak out and choke.”

“Really? It’s a test? You think I’m going to choke?” he asked a flurry of questions in his nervous state. Then he clamped a hand over his mouth. “Wait! Don’t answer those! Those aren’t one of my 20 questions!”

Maeri couldn’t help but to laugh at Sungjong’s unintentional cuteness. “Don’t worry. You’ll do fine. Just do what you normally do,” she encouraged. “And…you still have 19 questions.”

Sungjong sighed, “Oh good!” His nerves and jitters were laid to rest by her encouraging words. And now that his own personal issues were resolved, Sungjong instead decided to concentrate on the issues of his senior. “Noona, are you in a relationship?”

Out of shock, Maeri jerked the steering wheel a little, causing the car and Sungjong to abruptly shift to the right.  He hit his head against the window and yelped. “Sorry!” Maeri apologized. “You caught me by surprise.”

“You said that I could ask anything,” he responded in a pained voice, rubbing his head and wincing.

“Yea, but I thought we would slowly work up to that one,” she explained. “You should first ask, ‘where are you from,’ ‘what are your hobbies,’ ‘who’s your favorite member in Super Junior’….”

“Those are supposed to be basic question, ‘who’s your favorite member in Suju’?” Sungjong scoffed.

“Kim Heechul! Now you’re down to 17!” Maeri exclaimed.

“You tricked me! And totally avoided my first question,” Sungjong complained. He watched her shifting in the driver’s seat uncomfortably. Maeri was the inventor of the game, but she quickly began fearing her own creation. She just realized how much power that she’d given the intern, power that he could abuse. And it wasn’t like Sungjong wasn’t tempted to, but he also was aware of his limits. He sighed and then tried to explain himself, “It’s not that I like you. I’m just curious. You don’t seem to be married. And you’re old…”

“30’s not old!” Maeri interrupted.

“It’s all a matter of perspective,” he said quickly and moved back to the original topic before Maeri could object.  “It’s a simple question. Are you in a relationship?” he asked again

“I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “Maybe?”

“Ah!” Sungjong exclaimed nodding knowingly. “It’s one of those talking phases. Are we dating? Aren’t we? I _hate_ those.”

This time, Maeri was the cause for the awkward pause in the conversation, wondering if she should ask a question herself. “Sungjong-ah,” she began. The boy turned his attention to her. “Hypothetically, if an old friend, like _really_ old, like over 10 years…” Maeri paused for a second before actually asking the question, “if he randomly proposes to you, do you think that he’s being serious or playing around?”

“Is he 30 too?” he asked. She nodded. “30 year-olds hardly joke about marriage. And you know what they say about joking.” Maeri looked over at him blankly. She didn’t. Sungjong shook his head at her and scoffed. “That there’s some truth to it.”

“So he could be half-joking but half-serious?” she summarized.

“Yea.”

“Hm,” Maeri hummed through pursed lips as she processed things. That was the major block hindering her from giving Woohyun an answer. She wasn’t 100% certain that her dear old friend wasn’t just spouting hot air and was just bluffing as usual. She’d be eternally embarrassed if she called up with an answer, only to be met with Woohyun’s cackling at a prank well executed.

But, _30 year-olds hardly joke about marriage_ , Maeri repeated that part over and over again. She stopped joking about marrying Woohyun after he served his mandatory time in the army, when they both reached the age and stage in life to settle down. Woohyun too stopped joking about them marrying soon after. Well, that was until last night when he brought it up. The same night when their teenage pact was supposed to come into effect. Everything was lining up and pointing in one direction.

_He wasn’t joking. Good, good_. Maeri puffed out her cheeks and let out a deep breath.

“You know.” She shot the intern a sidelong glance. “You’re pretty smart for your age,” she praised.

“I know,” he said with a smug smile. Then he took her by surprise, when she was unsuspecting, and attacked with another question, “So are you going to marry him?”

Maeri forced out a laugh. “This is all hypothetical, remember?”

“Okay so,” he began, “ _hypothetically_ are you going to marry him?”

Maeri paused for a few moments. “I honestly can’t think of a reason for why we shouldn’t,” she admitted with a shrug. “He’s the best friend that I ever had. He’s always been there for me. He’s incredibly sweet and handsome as hell, with a cute little butt.” Sungjong gagged at that comment. Maeri laughed and continued, “I don’t know why I’m even wavering.”

“To me, it sounds like you already made your decision,” Sungjong said. “Also this situation is sounding a lot less hypothetical,” he joked.

“And…you’re down to 16,” Maeri retorted.

“NOONA!”

* * *

By the time they reached their destination, Sungjong burned through 6 more questions, leaving him with 10 more and a lot of blackmail material on his senior (the boy was surprisingly devious). They were now driving up to a large estate in the middle of the countryside. Maeri guessed that the building had to be at least a hundred years old with a couple hundred acres of land surrounding it. Had Maeri been anyone else, she would be impressed with her jaw dropping at the sight, but her job required her to visit this type of estates regularly. It wasn’t even the largest or oldest one she had ever seen, but it still held the promise of hidden treasures lying inside.

Apparently, it was one of Sungjong’s first times seeing such an impressive home. As soon as he emerged from the car, he looked around with his jaw dropped and slowly soaked in his surroundings. “Oh! Daebak! These people must be rich,” he exclaimed.

Maeri grabbed her bag and the camera cases from the trunk of her car and handed the cases over to Sungjong. “Not all the time,” she explained. “A lot of houses like this pass from generation to generation. You can often tell how much money the family has now by the condition of the grounds.” She surveyed the land around the house. The grass was slightly overgrown and the flowerbeds hadn’t been tended to in a while, allowing wildflowers to take root in the soil. “It looks like they have some money. But aren’t exactly rich.” She then grabbed Sungjong by the shoulders and smiled serenely. “Remember we’re dealing with grieving family members, so don’t forget to _smile_ ,” she said in a soothing tone, pointing to her smile.

Sungjong’s lips pulled up into a large smile, but his eyes remained scarily serious. Maeri burst into laughter and slapped his shoulders. “Yep. That needs some work,” she said as she turned and approached the house.

“What? Did it look weird? I practiced all night,” Sungjong whined, following her footsteps.

Once Sungjong was at her side, Maeri rang the doorbell. Before Maeri wasn’t surprised by the size of the house or by how much land it had, but she was surprised to see who answered the door. She normally dealt with elderly or middle-aged customers, but the man who answered the door appeared to be her age. Although it took her aback, she quickly regained her professional footing and outstretched her hand. “Hello. I’m Yoo Maeri from Grey’s Auction House,” she introduced herself.

The man took up her hand and gave it a gentle shake. “I’m Kim Sunggyu,” he responded. His eyes drifted over to the young man next to Maeri.

“This is my assistant, Lee Sungjong,” Maeri introduced.

Sungjong stepped forward to shake Sunggyu’s hand. “Pleased to meet you,” he said, using his half-friendly half-serious smile again. Maeri winced once she saw it.

After exchanging pleasantries, Sunggyu stepped aside. “Please come in.”

“It’s a beautiful home you have, Sunggyu-ssi,” Maeri remarked. It was always the first thing that she said once she stepped inside a client’s home, whether she meant it or not (not all estates were her style). But her job required her to be polite, and it also required a lot of small talk. Neither came hard to her. Just like her smile, it came to her effortlessly.

However, it wasn’t hard for her to say that Sunggyu’s house was beautiful. It truly was. It had an old world charm to it. The smile on her face broadened as she looked around. She was amazed.

“Thank you,” Sunggyu replied, his tone was somber and tired. “My great-grandfather built it. It’s been in my family since then, but now…” he sighed. “Sorry. I should probably show you where to go,” he said. Maeri responded with a polite nod, showing that she was ready to receive her orders. “There’s a couple pieces of furniture upstairs and a jewelry box. On this floor, there’s the china in the cabinet in the dining room and some more furniture there as well. I marked them all with tags, so they should be easy to find,” Sunggyu instructed as he lead them both further inside.

“Okay. We’ll get started in a second,” Maeri replied, stopping in her tracks and letting Sunggyu walk ahead of her. She then spun on her heels and turned to her assistant. “Hey nice smile you had back there,” she said in a low whisper.

“I got nervous! Am I going to get points knocked off?” he responded in a whisper.

Maeri chuckled. “No, even if there were any points. It was a rookie mistake.” Then she picked up the camera. “You know how to work this?” Sungjong rolled his eyes. “Okay, I’ll take that as a yes,” Maeri spoke with an edge in her tone. “I’m still your superior, you know. I deserve a little respect.”

“Sorry, Noona. It’s just that after some of the things I just learned about you…” Sungjong ended by heaving a great sighing and shaking his head lowly, as if he was disappointed.

“Yea, I’m not surprised you lost some respect for me. I lost some for myself too,” Maeri half-joked. There were some things that she preferred the intern not knowing, her criminal record was one of them. “Okay, back to business,” she spoke out more loudly and with more authority. It was time to concentrate on work and not her. “You’ll take the china because it’s easy. Don’t forget to take the pictures of the back sides of the dishes.”

“Okay, Noona,” he said in response, all the while he was looking down as he fiddled with the camera.

Maeri watched the intern’s large hands fumble with the camera, and she sighed. _Sungjong will be fine_ , she assured herself. Maeri truly had a hard time trusting in and relying on others, and it always made her anxious when she was forced to. Up to this point, Sungjong proved himself to be a worthy person. Hopefully he’d continue to be.

Maeri wished the intern luck and turned back around. Once again, Sunggyu gave her mild shock. He must’ve stopped walking as soon as he noticed that Maeri was talking with her assistant. He was leaning against the wall, waiting for them to finish their conversation.

“I hope you don’t mind that my assistant handles the china,” Maeri told the man. She noticed Sunggyu glancing over at the youngest, worried. “I assure you that he has very careful hands,” she tried to assure him, but unfortunately, at that exact moment, Sungjong dropped the cap for the lens and almost dropped the entire camera at the same time.

Maeri forced out a laugh, deciding to make a joke of the entire situation to ease the tension, “See, he didn’t drop the expensive part, just the little cap.” Sunggyu looked more worried than amused.

“I’ll show him to the dining room,” Sunggyu replied. Maeri chewed on her lower lip nervously. Sunggyu was probably going to watch over the intern like a hawk now. And Sungjong doesn’t need that added pressure. The client gestured over to the side. “The stairs are right over there,” he revealed. “The items with pink tags are for sale.”

Maeri nodded, and they parted ways. Sungjong followed the client with nervous steps into the dining room, and Maeri made her way up the stairs. The aging steps groaned under her feet as she made her way to the second floor. The house revealed its age with its creaks and groans, like grandparent complaining about old joints.

She found the tagged pieces of furniture once she reached the top of the stairs. A small cupboard in the hallway, a nightstand in a bedroom, a bed itself, almost everything was decorated with those bright pink tags. Some pieces were as old as the house, others even older. _The older the better_ , Maeri thought, smiling as she analyzed each piece.

When she was leaving one bedroom behind and was making her way into the next, she heard a voice call out from behind her, causing her to tense up, “My mother’s jewelry box should be in there…I’m sorry if I startled you.”

This man was quickly making a habit of catching her off guard. “Oh, it’s not your fault, Sunggyu-ssi. I am very easily startled,” Maeri readily took the blame. “So the jewelry box is in here,” she said as she walked into the bedroom, eager to take the focus off of herself.

“Yes,” Sunggyu said as he followed her inside.

Once inside, it became obvious to Maeri that this was the Masters suite. It was far larger and grander than the other two rooms. She glanced quickly over to the man next to her as she made her way into the center of the room. _Is this his room?_ she wondered.

His room or not, Sunggyu acted at home in it. He shuffled into the room and slunk onto the bed, leaning his head against one of the bed’s four posts. He slowly raised his eyes up to Maeri, who was cautiously opening the jewelry box on top of the dresser.

The appraiser smiled to herself and focused back on the box in her hands. She was used to being watched by clients with hawk-like eyes, making sure she handled the family’s prized possessions carefully and that she wouldn’t steal anything. Some people had so little faith.

But Sunggyu…Maeri cast a glance back at the despondent man on the bed. He wasn’t even watching her anymore. Now his head was in his hands, looking so entirely dejected. The smile fled from her face as the oddest sense of déjà-vu washed over her. This scene was all too familiar to her. _Probably Woohyun_ , Maeri dismissed, and she began sifting through the jewelry in the box. After all, Sunggyu’s behavior wasn’t strange in the end. In addition to having suspicious clients, Maeri was also used to people following her around, not wanting to be alone.

“You know, Sunggyu-ssi, we don’t have to pass this time in complete silence,” Maeri suggested, offering more than just her presence to the other. And Sunggyu took it. He immediately raised his head the moment he heard his name. Maeri smiled and picked out the first tagged item that she found, showing it to the other. “Maybe if you tell me about some of the pieces, it will help me to sell them. People often like pieces with a story.”

“Really?” Sunggyu looked skeptical but he still stood up from the safety of the bed. Slowly he walked over to her side. “What kind of things would you like to know?” he asked with his eyes fixed on the brooch in her hand.

Maeri’s eyes followed his, falling onto the brooch and seeing it for the first time. She almost sputtered into a laugh. It was an odd piece, a bejeweled brooch in the shape of a dragonfly. “Is there an interesting story behind this?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face.

“It was my great-grandmothers, I think,” Sunggyu spoke, laced with doubt. “There’s nothing really special about it,” he continued, taking the brooch in his hands. “Actually it’s kind of ugly,” there was a slight laugh in his voice and a trace of a smile on his face. “Even my noona didn’t want it, and she loves stuff like this.”

“What kind of stuff?” Maeri asked, turning her attention away from the ring with an emerald setting that she now picked up.

“Free stuff,” he said with a chuckle.

Maeri laughed along with him. And maybe it was because the atmosphere between the two was growing more comfortable and less tense, but Maeri then asked a question that was utterly unprofessional, “If you don’t mind me asking, if she likes ‘free stuff’ so much, why are you selling everything?” Of course, she was met with no response. What kind was she expecting? Maeri quickly whipped her head and looked over at the other. Sunggyu had his eyes fixed on his hands, holding onto the dragonfly brooch tightly. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have asked,” she apologized.

“No, it’s alright,” Sunggyu dismissed, waving his hand. He then met her gaze. “The reason why I’m selling it is because…it’s just…too much stuff, and neither of us, noona or I, have enough money to support this house any longer. We have no room for most of the furniture or even for little trinkets like this,” he said, holding up the brooch. “And storage costs a lot.”

“Do any of your other relatives want any of these things?” Maeri quickly shot another question. She bit her lip hard, punishing herself for not restraining herself any better. Maeri brought down her camera and smiled apologetically at him (how much does she feel sorry for). “I know this goes against my job, but I hate seeing items that have been in the family for years go into the hands of complete strangers, even ugly dragonfly brooches,” she tried to explain herself. “They still have memories attached to them.”

Sunggyu smiled meekly, his eyes fixed on the brooch. “My noona and I are all that’s left,” he spoke lowly. “My parents didn’t have siblings of their own. And…” he paused, swallowing a lump in his throat before continuing. “My mom died two weeks after my dad. So it’s just me and noona,” he ended with a forced smile.

“They were lovebirds,” Maeri said under her breath with a slight smile on her face.

“Huh?” Sunggyu asked, confused by her happy expression.

Maeri bit her lip. She’d done it again, acted inappropriately. She was lucky that Sunggyu seemed good-natured and not sensitive. “My grandparents were the same,” she explained. “My grandmother died a month after my grandfather. My mom called them lovebirds because they couldn’t stand living without each other.” Until this day, Maeri always thought that being lovebirds, so attached, was romantic and sweet. It wasn’t until she saw Sunggyu’s sad eyes and heard his small voice that she began to think otherwise.

“But she couldn’t live for me,” Sunggyu mumbled, leaving Maeri at a complete loss for words. While she was stunned, he walked next to her, up to the box. Sunggyu then plucked a diamond ring from the box. “But maybe you’re right. Not all of this should be given to strangers. I’ll take this, if you don’t mind,” he announced, showing her the ring. He tore off the pink tag from the ring as he muttered, “It was my mother’s.”

Maeri nodded enthusiastically. “Go ahead,” she insisted. “It’s yours anyway.”

Suddenly, someone cleared their throat from behind. Maeri spun around to see Sungjong at the doorway. After seeing that he had her attention, the assistant gestured for her to come to him. “Noona! Will you check these pictures to make sure I did it right?” he begged.

“Yes!” she answered. Then she turned to Sunggyu. “Please excuse me, Sunggyu-ssi.” The man only nodded in response, allowing her a moment’s reprieve.

Maeri took in a deep breath as she walked over to her intern. She only needed to hold out her hand, and Sungjong readily handed the camera over to her. She then began to flip through the pictures that he had taken. “Very good, Sungjong. But you’ll need to retake this one and this one. You accidentally cut off some of the border,” she critiqued. However, when she looked up from the camera, she noticed that Sungjong wasn’t entirely paying attention to her; he was busy observing the melancholy man fiddling with the ring in his palm. Maeri snapped her fingers in front of his face, arresting his attention away from the man. “Sungjong-ah! Minus 5 points!” she threatened.

Sungjong whipped his head back around and stared at her with his jaw dropped. “I thought that we weren’t using points!” he argued.

Maeri ignored his comment and instead chose to focus on why the assistant was so enraptured with the client. “Why are you staring at him? Why? Do you think he’s cute?” she asked.

Sungjong nodded a bit at the last question. “I was thinking that it was a shame that you were _hypothetically_ engaged,” he answered. “You guys look good together. Plus he’s _rich_ ,” Sungjong lowered his tone and wiggled his eyebrows.

Maeri rolled her eyes and lightly shoved the intern on his shoulder. “Way to be professional,” she chided. “Besides,” she began and paused to cast a glance at the man still at the dresser, recalling what he’d just told her. “He’s not rich. His family was, but not anymore.” Sungjong pouted at the last statement. Maeri chuckled a bit at the younger’s disappointed expression. _There’s more important things than money_ , she thought as he handed the camera back to him. _It’s better to have someone you get along with._ Maeri then patted the other on the arm as she commanded, “Now scoot and don’t drop anything.”

Sungjong saluted like a soldier to her before he marched out of the room (and down the stairs. Maeri could hear the intern’s thudding steps from the bedroom).

“You seem to run a tight ship,” Sunggyu joked when Maeri returned to his side. “How old is that kid anyway? 12?”

“He acts like it sometimes,” Maeri joked. “He’s 25.”

“Wah! How does he look so young?” he said shaking his head in disbelief.

Maeri laughed. “Try being a grown woman and him being prettier than you are. Life is unfair sometimes,” she joked. But as soon as those words slipped past her lips, she wanted to suck them back in. She couldn’t believe she said that her life was unfair to a man who lost both of his parents in less than a month. The long paused that ensued afterwards was proof of her error. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Maeri broke the silence, apologizing with her eyes fixed on her camera. Sunggyu just waved his hand, showing that he took no offense, but he still remained silent.

Silence. Silence was slowly killing Maeri. Sunggyu’s silence just reminded her of the lack of communication between her and her best friend. It was becoming unbearable. Before she knew it, she blurted out a question that had been festering in her mind, niggling at her, but she never envisioned asking a complete stranger, “Sunggyu-ssi, do you believe in soul mates?”

Sunggyu looked up at her, his eyes opened wide, “What?”

Maeri busied herself with her camera as she clarified, “Do you believe in soul mates? In having someone so perfect for you, so integral in your life that you couldn’t envision living without them? Like your parents?” _Or possibly Woohyun for me_ , she thought. Maeri was slowly realizing how important Woohyun was to her with his current absence. Her heart felt slightly empty, and her day didn’t feel complete without hearing his voice or seeing his face. _And it’s only been one day. I could see how Sunggyu’s mother couldn’t last two weeks without his father_.

Sunggyu cocked his head to the side as he answered, “I don’t know…I think that the notion of having a soul mate is nice. It gives us hope that every relationship we have could work out. It gives us a hope for a happy ending, but practically I don’t know,” he admitted with a shrug. “Because then we might have to acknowledge that there’s fate or a higher being in power, creating a perfect partner for each of us, at the same time controlling our love lives. Then, if that’s true, what about free will? Is everything already planned for us at birth?” Suddenly, he stopped his rant, realizing how passionate he’d gotten and how lost Maeri looked. Sunggyu grinned shyly. “I’m sorry. I’m a philosophy and ethics teacher,” he confessed. “It’s a habit.”

Maeri shook her head and waved her hand. She was happy to see that she wasn’t the only one getting carried away. “Don’t apologize. It was very insightful,” she said.

Sunggyu laughed. “That’s a polite way of saying ‘confusing’,” he joked.

“Well, it was that too,” she responded with a smile.

The man then dropped his gaze to the jewelry box again. His fingers running over the accessories and playing with the pink tags attached to them. Maeri wondered if he regretted tagging some of the other pieces in addition to his mother’s ring. “What about you?” his voice broke into her thoughts. Maeri looked up to meet his gaze, but Sunggyu’s eyes were still downcast. “Do you believe in soul mates?”

“Hm,” Maeri hummed in thought as she pulled a pendent from beneath the other’s fingers. Sunggyu finally looked up at her. As she took a picture of the pendent, Maeri answered in a distracted voice, “I did when I was younger, but now…” After snapping the photo, she put down the camera and sighed, “But now…maybe I still do,” she admitted. “But I’m not as sure as I was back then. It’s just hard to keep the faith now. It would _really_ help if it was more obvious.” She faced Sunggyu and pointed to her forehead. “Like a man walking around with ‘Property of Yoo Maeri’ tattooed across his forehead.” She laughed and then turned her attention back to the box. “But without a sure sign like that. how can you know for sure, you know?”

“The tattoo thing would _really_ help,” he joked with a slight chuckle. “But I guess you can’t ever be 100% certain. You’d just have to take a leap of faith.”

Maeri stopped what she was doing and cast her gaze up at the ceiling, contemplating what the other just said. “A leap of faith, huh?” she mumbled under her breath. Maeri was never the type to blindly trust others with her heart. She always needed to be 100% sure of their affections and intentions. But with Woohyun, she wouldn’t be going in blind. She knew him well. She knew his heart, and he knew hers. It wouldn’t be so much of a leap as a hop of faith.

She dropped her gaze, falling on Sunggyu’s. “I’m going to check on my assistant,” she announced, putting the strap of the camera on her shoulder. “You know, make sure he hasn’t broken anything yet,” she joked, hoping that he’d understand her sense of humor.

And he did. “I’d be grateful if you did,” Sunggyu responded back in a light tone.

“We might take lunch after that, if you don’t mind,” she added as she made her way out the bedroom door. The client followed her out.

Sunggyu noddes. “Go ahead. I might too.”

“Thank you, Sunggyu-ssi,” Maeri genuinely spoke with a relieved smile on her face. Sunggyu shot her a confused glance. After all lunch was a part of her contract, why should she be thanking him so warmly? “For the conversation,” she explained herself. Sunggyu nodded, finally understanding. “This job can get lonely sometimes. I mean, you can always talk to furniture, but it doesn’t always respond,” she joked and much to pleasure he laughed (even though it was lame). “It was insightful, and I don’t mean confusing.”

“I enjoyed it too,” he confessed.

In the end, Maeri didn’t know if she believed in soul mates 100% again, but she knew that she was going to marry Woohyun, 100% sure.

* * *

Back in their hometown, Woohyun had an incredibly stressful day at work. His boss yelled at him for nodding off at the meeting (he couldn’t help it. The accounting reports were the most boring thing on the planet, and the monotone voices lulled him to sleep), and to add to his misery, Sungyeol had informed him that his wife was pregnant. _Great! Freakin’ Lee Sungyeol is not only married, but now he’s going to have a kid_. Lee Sungyeol was having the best day. Whereas Woohyun didn’t even know if he had a best friend anymore, fearing that he scared her off with his proposal.

The anxiety that he’d kept pent up inside, hatched out during his work out session with Hoya later that night.

“Woah, buddy!” Hoya exclaimed, hastily taking the weights away from Woohyun, who was trying to bench press more than he could handle. His arms where shaking, causing the bar to tremble in his grasp. “Getting a little wobbly there,” Hoya remarked under his breath. After returning the weights back to its rightful place, he patted Woohyun on his back. “Maybe we should call it a day.”

“No. Just one more set,” Woohyun begged, reaching for the bar again. “I can do it.”

But Hoya just batted his hands away. “You’re too distracted right now,” he pointed out. “You almost dropped the bar.”

“Just one more,” Woohyun spoke through a yawn. Hoya scoffed at the other and shook his head.

“What’s with you today?” Hoya cut straight to the point.

“Just a bad day,” Woohyun plainly replied as he sat up. He rubbed his tired face with his hands. “A bad day that will never end,” he grumbled.

“Want to talk about it?” Hoya asked, handing the other a water bottle.

Woohyun graciously took it and drank a long draught before responding, “No not really.”

And to that, Hoya didn’t say anything else. Woohyun half-smiled and threw the bottle back at his friend. That was exactly why Woohyun appreciated him. Hoya knew when it was time to talk things out, and when they shouldn’t. It was a skill that Woohyun wished he had at times. Unfortunately, he had a habit of running his mouth.

While they were both sitting there, letting their panting breaths fill the silence, Woohyun felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. After pulling it out, he casually looked at who was calling before he answered it, “Dongwoo, what’s up?”

“I think you should come home now,” Dongwoo chirped on the other side. “You have a visitor.”

* * *

Woohyun had never rushed out of the gym and back home so quickly. He had a feeling about who this visitor was, and he wasn’t disappointed when he opened his apartment door. Maeri was there, sitting on his sofa and patiently waiting for him to come home. As soon as she caught sight of him, she smiled, bringing a smile immediately onto his own face. Maeri stood up and walked over to Woohyun who was still hovering at the doorway. As soon as she was in front of him, Maeri dropped down onto one knee and grabbed for Woohyun’s hands, taking them warmly in her own. “Woohyun-ah,” she started.

“Yes,” Woohyun answered in a high-pitched voice, playing along with the role reversal, knowing what she was about to ask.

Maeri frowned and slapped him in the leg. “Shush! I’m being serious,” she snapped.

Woohyun cleared his throat and repeated it again in his normal voice, “Yes.”

She smiled again and closed her eyes as she said the rest of her speech, too embarrassed to look at him. Her face grew redder at each word. “You're my best friend on the whole planet, and when I didn’t see you all day today, I realized how much I need you and want to see you every day of my life,” she confessed. Maeri then opened only one of her eyes and looked up at the other. “ _So_ what I’m trying to say is…yes, I _will_ marry you.”

Woohyun immediately pulled her up and into a hug, tightly squeezing her and swaying back and forth. She responded by hugging him tightly back, resting her head on his shoulder. “I knew you would, darling,” he replied.

Maeri pulled back from the hug slightly so that she could see his face. She raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Really? Darling? What are we, 50?” she joked.

“Baby?” he asked, pinching her cheeks. She grimaced in response and shook her head. “Honey?” Woohyun tried again.

She nodded enthusiastically. “I like it, Honey.”

Woohyun whined, “No! You have to call me something different.”

“Pumpkin?” she asked after thinking for a while.

Woohyun frowned and pointed to his face. “Do I look like a pumpkin to you?” he challenged.

“Is that a trick question?” she teased. Woohyun grimaced and hit her lightly on the head with his knuckles. “Okay, okay,” Maeri gave in. “How about ‘Sweetie’?”

He smiled broadly and nodded. He liked the sound of that. He _really_ did. “Now there’s one more thing we have to do now, Honey,” he pointed out.

Maeri cocked her head. “What is it, Sweetie?”

“It’s a surprise,” he said, tapping her nose.

Maeri opened her mouth, about to argue and drag out the information from the other either by her words or with force, but then a hesitant voice cut her off. “Guys?” It was coming from the bedroom.

The couple laughed, knowing full well whose voice it was. “Yea, Dongwoo?” they said in unison.

Dongwoo cracked open his door slightly and poked his head out. “Are you guys getting married?” he asked. They both happily nodded. Dongwoo then threw the door wide open and ran up to the two in order to hug them. “I’m so happy right now!” he exclaimed.

Woohyun laughed. “Woo, are you crying?” he asked as he tried to pry his friend off of him to check and see.

Dongwoo just clung on tighter. “No,” he denied, but his cracking voice and sniffles betrayed him.

Apparently Woohyun wasn’t the only one worried about whether she’d say ‘yes.’

 

“Where are we going?” Maeri asked for the thousandth, but Woohyun still didn’t respond (much to her growing annoyance). He was just dragging her down the street by her hand. “Where we going, _Sweetie_?” she tried again, calling to him as gently as she could. This time Woohyun did respond. He stopped abruptly in front of a shop, causing Maeri to run into his back. “Oh,” she grunted. Pulling away slightly, she peered over his shoulder and saw what sort of shop it was. “Oh!”

“Yep,” Woohyun chirped as he squeezed her hand in his. They were standing in front of the jewelry store, and Maeri finally got it. But in case she didn’t, Woohyun leaned closer and whispered, “We can’t be an official couple without a ring.”

He then pulled her inside of the shop, and Maeri all the sudden felt overwhelmed by all of the options. She had a difficult choosing what flavor of ice cream to eat. The thought of choosing just _one_ ring out of hundreds, one ring that she’d have to live with for the rest of her life, it made Maeri nervous. It seemed impossible. And Woohyun noticed that her eyes started to dart all over the shop. “Because you can’t _ever_ make a decision, I’ll pick one out for you,” he offered. The excitement of the past hour had made him impatient. He had waited so long for her answer, and he couldn't deal with Maeri's infamous indecision now, now when they were so close to sealing their 12 year-old deal.

Maeri pouted. “Then why am I here?” she argued. As far as she was concerned (and what she’d prefer), Woohyun could pick it out himself.

Woohyun rolled his eyes and pulled her over to a display case. “Come on. It’ll be fun,” he assured her. He had his mind set on choosing couple rings together (even if he had to force her to make a decision). Woohyun nudged her and pointed to a ring in the display case with a large setting. “Let’s try on that one,” he said.

“Sweetie,” she said in a low whisper, her eyes darting from side to side. “That’s way too much.”

“Come on. Just do it,” he whined.

Maeri scoffed, “So the guy who tries to get me to pay for every single meal he has, all the sudden wants to buy me the most expensive ring in the shop.”

Woohyun looked at her and squinted, “Good point. Let’s go over there, where the rings are cheaper.”

“Call!” Maeri exclaimed.

In the end, they chose a plain gold band with a couple of small, inset diamonds. It was plain, but so were they. It fit. Woohyun pecked her on the head as Maeri slipped the ring on. “Look at my future wife, saving me money,” he praised. “Other girls would want rings three times more expensive.”

“Yea, but other girls aren’t as cool as me,” she joked, not even managing to keep a straight face as she did so. She slipped the matching ring onto her old friend’s, new fiancé’s, ring finger.

Woohyun laughed along with her. “Now there’s just one more thing we have to do today, Honey,” he pointed out. Maeri looked up at him with confused glance. He put his arm around her shoulders. “We have to tell our parents,” he explained.

“Oh my God!” Maeri exclaimed, bringing her hands up to her face. “They are going to have a heart attack.” After all, this is what their parents were waiting to hear for years. The new couple shuffled their feet grudgingly out of the shop.

“I know. We’ll never hear the end of it,” Woohyun groaned.

“‘We told you so.’ ‘You two should’ve gotten married ages ago’,” Maeri said mimicking their parents’ nagging voices. She faced the other, pouting. “Do we really have to go?”

“Eung,” Woohyun grunted with a nod. Maeri’s pout deepened. Woohyun took advantage of the moment and rushed forward, running out ahead of her. He spun back around, seeing her more confused than ever now. “I’ll race you there,” he proposed. “First one there gets to name our first child!” he shouted out and then broke out into a sprint.

Maeri quickly chased after him, shouting, “That’s no fair! I’m wearing heels!” Yet, she was not backing down, although she was losing miserably. She huffed as she saw Woohyun’s back getting further and further away from her. “Fine! But I’m naming the second one!”


	4. "Do you believe in soul mates?" (age 18)

_Love…_

_I don’t know when it’ll start…_

_I also don’t know when it’ll end…_

_I believe in fated love._

“Seriously, this is going to be your senior quote?” Maeri asked, gripping the paper after reading those cheesy words aloud. She shook the paper in front of her friend’s face. “You know, this is going in the yearbook for everyone to see. Not only girls can see it but guys can too.”

Woohyun took the paper away from her and smoothed it out. “Why? What’s wrong with it?” he challenged. “Isn’t it romantic?”

Maeri couldn’t help but to cringe a little. Woohyun was so confident, so sure in himself, maybe a little too much. Maeri had spent days, scouring books for an appropriate, neutral quote that she could put in the yearbook (something that no one would make fun of or even look twice at). Woohyun, on the other hand, just laid out his entire heart on the page and didn’t give a crap about what other people would think about it. _Where did he get this confidence?_  Maeri rubbed her forehead and pointed to the paper, “Who said this quote anyway?”

“I did,” Woohyun answered with a proud smile. Maeri snorted, stifling a laugh. “What? It’s way better than yours!” he argued. Woohyun took up the piece of paper laying in front of her and read it out loud, “I came. I saw. I conquered. Julius Caesar.” He barely read the last words before Maeri tore the paper away from his grip. She sneered at him and folded the paper up. Woohyun chuckled at her reaction. “What does that even mean anyway?” he asked resting his head in his hands.

Maeri’s lower lip jutted out even further in discontent. “It’s not obvious?” she retorted. Woohyun shook his head. Maeri then sighed and stared at the folded paper with her brows furrowed. She thought it was completely obvious. “It’s supposed to mean that I get done what I set out to do,” she mumbled.

“Oh,” Woohyun exclaimed, finally understanding. “Why didn’t you just write that?”

“It’s called a ‘quote.’ And people don’t normally quote themselves,” Maeri chided putting down her paper. “Plus I don’t think I could put it down as eloquently as ‘Love…I don’t know when it’ll start.’ Aish!” she cursed. She couldn’t even bear reading the quote over again. “Who talks like that?”

She was speaking sarcastically, but Woohyun took it as a compliment towards his literary skills. He grabbed the paper from her and a pen. Unfolding it, he announced, “I’ll write one for you.”

“No! Don’t!” Maeri whined as she got up and tried to grab the paper from him, but he easily evaded her.

He looked up at her with sad eyes. “Come on, don't you trust me?” his voice quivered slightly like a wounded animal.

“Fine,” Maeri gave in, settling back into her seat.  Woohyun smiled his usual goofy grin and then turned his attention to his friend’s quote. Maeri watched him as he bit the end of the pen, contemplating for a few moments before he pressed it onto the paper and jotted down a few words. Maeri leaned in closer, trying to read over his shoulder, but he boxed her out, guarding the paper as if his life depended on it. He was also giggling like a maniac, which made the hairs on the back of Maeri’s neck stand up.

Then he suddenly stopped and brought the paper to his chest. “You ready for the best quote in the world?” he asked in a very serious tone, momentarily dropping his usual smile.

“Yep. I’m dying with anticipation,” Maeri spoke sarcastically.

“Jjang!” He exclaimed as he handed her the paper with both of his hands.

Maeri took it up, her eyebrows raised so high in suspicion that they almost disappeared into her hairline. She sighed and smirked when she finally read it out loud, “A man can live a month without food, a week without water, but Yoo Maeri cannot live a day without Nam Woohyun.”

“It’s true, right? I captured your essence in that quote. You’re nothing without me,” Woohyun excitedly explained.

Maeri looked at him, pouting slightly. “What am I? Just a growth to you? Or a parasite?”

Woohyun nodded enthusiastically. “You're _my_ parasite. You’d die without me. Admit it,” he urged her, patting her on the head.

Maeri raised a fist threateningly at him, but brought it down immediately afterwards. A smile appeared on her face. “The quote’s actually not bad…with a few adjustments.” She grabbed the pen from Woohyun before he could object to her ‘editing.’

_A man can live a month without food, a week without water, but he cannot live a day without love_.

-Nam Woohyun

“But I didn’t say that,” he objected as he read her finished product.

Maeri was focused on smoothing out her paper. “It’s the _essence_ of it,” she retorted.

Woohyun snorted in response. “Why? Do you _love_ me?” he asked nudging her shoulder.

Maeri’s eyes were now permanently glued to the paper. She felt her cheeks growing hot and red, so she leaned forward, letting her hair fall and cover them. She bit her lip unconsciously. To say that Maeri had never had seen Woohyun as more than a friend would be a bold-faced lie. Yes, he was her best friend. Yes, they bickered and acted more like siblings. But, in the end, they weren’t. Also he had a _very_ handsome face and a body toned from sports. Over the years he became increasingly attractive in her eyes, even at his worst, sweaty, messy, smelly moments. So it was inevitable that someday Maeri would develop a crush on him. And that day came when he started dating their classmate, Jiyoung, a year ago. Like the saying goes, “You never know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” She found herself being jealous of Jiyoung, who became the new object of his affections, the new recipient of his cheesy lines. And that ‘lucky’ girl used to be her.

She thought that initially she hated Jiyoung just for simply taking Woohyun’s time away from her, turning him into a ‘whipped’ man. However, Maeri realized that her feelings for Woohyun were stronger than she had previously thought when she saw them hold hands for the first time. _That hand…is mine_ , she thought. _He is mine. Oh shit! Brain, what are you thinking?! I can’t really like him. His my best friend…Why is my heart beating so fast? Shit…I like him_.

After calming her racing heart, which had sped up after Woohyun asked his question, Maeri looked up and smiled coolly. “Of course, I love you…like a brother,” she lied through her teeth. Woohyun pushed out his lower lip and nodded. “What? Do you not love me too?” she asked in mock shock, but secretly hoping that he would confess, dump Jiyoung, and run off hand and hand with her into the sunset. _Brain, stop it!_

“Of course. You know, as a friend,” he responded as he fiddled with the pen. Then an awkward pause formed between the two of them. Woohyun looked over at his quote again, then asked, “Do you believe in soul mates?”

“What?” Maeri choked out in surprise. “Why do you ask?” He just shrugged in response. Maeri grew a little irritated. Sometimes his brain just jumped from one topic to the next; she couldn’t read him, and tell what he was thinking. “Well, I guess statistically it makes since,” she answered.

Woohyun burst into a fit of laughter. “Statistically?” he asked skeptically between laughs. “You believe in soul mates because of math?”

Maeri bit the inside of her cheek, controlling her short-temper. “It’s not that weird,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Why?” Woohyun asked with a curious smile.

Maeri paused, gathering her thoughts before answering. “Well…if you think about it, there are like a gajillion people in the world…”

“If you round up,” he joked.

“Of course,” Maeri continued. “So take into account all the different variations in personality, ethics, morality, stuff like that…”

“Okay,” Woohyun said pretending to calculate it in his head.

Maeri laughed. “There’s bound to be 1 person out there who perfectly matches up with you. But…”

“But what?” he spurred her on, being very attentive to his friend’s bizarre explanation.

“The world’s a big place. Statiscally…”

“Of course,” he interjected.

Maeri had to cover up his mouth with her hand before she could continue, “ _Statistically_ , you might never meet up with that person.”

Woohyun removed her hand away from his mouth and pouted. “That’s just sad,” he remarked.

“Why?”

He brought up his knees into his chair and hugged them. “You believe that there’s a perfect person out there for you, but you’ll never meet them?” he summarized.

“Well…it’s unlikely,” Maeri muttered. “Why? What do you believe?” she turned the question back onto him.

“Fate! Didn’t you read my quote?” he demanded, shaking his paper in front of her face. She gently pushed it away. “There’s the perfect woman for me somewhere out there. And we _will_ meet.”

“How can you be so sure?” she asked. Woohyun was always so sure about everything.

“Because fate wouldn’t be so cruel to give us a soul mate and never let us meet them,” he answered assuredly.

“Do you think that you already met her?” she asked, taking his paper away from him and rereading his quote. _Fated love_ …

He shrugged. He watched Maeri fiddle with the piece of paper, and an amused smile appeared across his face. He knew that she had really meant, ‘Do you think Jiyoung is your soul mate?’ And the honest answer would be a flat out ‘No!’

Sure, Jiyoung was the prettiest girl in the class. Dating her was an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up (especially when it made all the guys in the school crazy with jealousy). But she was too demanding. He could see the relationship not lasting longer than a few more weeks. He was growing tired of her and her endless lists of demands (having to walk her to every class, carry her books, buy her food, pick up her dry-cleaning, wash her car, etc.). But he wasn’t going to tell Maeri the truth, that the only reason why he was dating Jiyoung was because she was pretty. Then he would appear shallow, and Maeri’s opinion meant a lot to him.

Woohyun also felt a shift in Maeri’s behavior towards him. It was obvious that she became jealous of Jiyoung. Subtlety was not Maeri’s forte; her face was too honest for that. But was that because she was angry that Jiyoung was cutting into their friend time or because Maeri actually _liked_ him, Woohyun wasn’t sure. But one thing he did know for certain, she was a lot more fun to hang out with than Jiyoung, especially since Maeri was more likely to buy him food.

While Maeri was busy studying his quote, he tore hers away from her. “I like your quote better. Let’s switch!” He got up from his seat. “I came up with this one anyway…well, mostly.” Then he took off to turn his new quote into the yearbook office.

“Yah! Nam Woohyun!” she called out after him and chased him down the hallway.

In the end, they had identical quotes printed in the yearbook. Maeri was unable to deter Woohyun from stealing hers and was unwilling to change her own. But she did end up stealing something from Woohyun in return, his unwavering faith in fate. Statistics wasn’t the only reason anymore why she believed her perfect match was out there, and she _will_ meet him one day…if she hadn’t already.


	5. "Our Song" (age 30)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to revise this story...but I'm not. I'm sorry. I want to concentrate on other stories. As a result, this story is going to read a bit sloppily. This is was a story that I regularly updated in the beginning, and so I didn't put so much effort into the "telling" of the story as I did in working out the plot. So this is a downgrade from my usual writing (not to mention that it's a few years old by now and I like to think that I've improved). The later chapters should be of better quality.

 Knock, knock.

“Oh! Maeri…and Woohyun! Quick, come inside or you’ll catch a cold,” a woman in her fifties answered the door.

“Mom!” Maeri whined as she stepped inside her house. “It’s just barely fall.”

Maeri’s mother brought in her daughter for a hug. “I know, but it gets chilly at night,” she said in a gentle tone that only a mother can. Then she pulled out of the hug and picked up Maeri’s hands to hold. Her eyes widened. Maeri felt her mother feel out her ring finger curiously. Her mother immediately brought her daughter’s hand to her face and saw it, the ring. “OOOOOOH MY GOODNESS! HONEY! GET IN HERE!” she shouted to her husband and started to jump up and down in excitement. Then she turned to Woohyun in anticipation. He giggled and brought up his hand to show his matching ring. Maeri’s mother immediately attacked him with a hug, which he graciously accepted. “I knew it! I knew it!” Maeri’s mom kept repeating as tears were streaming down her face. Then she pulled out of the hug and stared at him with a frenzied expression. “I have to go get your parents!” she exclaimed as she darted out of the house and across the street.

Woohyun laughed as he put his arm around Maeri’s shoulders. “I think that they’re excited,” he remarked.

“That’s an understatement,” she responded.

Then an older, slightly grumpy looking man rounded the corner. “What’s all the fuss? Where’s your mother?” he grumbled as he took a swig from the glass of beer he was holding.

“Oh Ahjussi! Hello!” Woohyun greeted warmly. “Ahjumma’s at my parents’ house telling them that we’re engaged,” he plainly stated, lifting up his hand and Maeri’s to show off their rings.

“Oh,” Maeri’s father remarked. Then realization finally hit him, and his glass hit the floor. His grumpy face softened into  a warm expression. He walked over to the couple and brought them into a bear hug. “I’m going to find your mother,” he said after pulling out from the hug, and he slowly walked out the door.

Woohyun and Maeri were now left alone, still standing in at the threshold. Maeri turned to her now fiancée. “Um. Should we go over there too?” she asked.

“I don’t know.”

Then a young boy walked down from the stairs and saw them standing in the doorway. “Noona, what’s going on? I heard Mom spazzing out,” he said. Then he noticed that Woohyun was there. “Oh, hyung! What are you doing here?” he asked immediately running over to Woohyun’s side.

Woohyun patted his head. “Hey, Jonghyun! Your parents are telling mine that we’re getting married,” he said.

Jonghyun opened his eyes wide in shock. “Her!” he exclaimed as he pointed at his sister. “Why? You deserve so much better.”

Maeri pouted and stomped her foot. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around? We’re blood related!” she complained.

“Yea, but he’s my brother from another mother,” her brother retorted, stretching out his hand for a high five.

“That’s right!” Woohyun said, returning his high five. Then he turned to Maeri. “You can’t beat that.”

Maeri was about to say something in response, but then she felt a push from behind. “What are you two still doing in the doorway?! Let’s all go sit down,” her mother (having returned with Woohyun’s parents) chided, leading Woohyun and Maeri into the kitchen.

But Maeri didn’t make it too far. She was almost immediately pulled into a hug by Woohyun’s mother who was crying uncontrollably. “I’m…so…happy!” she managed to get out between sobs. “You’re…my…daughter!”

Maeri hugged her back tightly, rubbing her back. “I’m happy too,” she said gently. Then she pulled out to wipe her tears. “Why are you crying? You’re happy!” she joked.

“I…was…waiting for so long!” Woohyun’s mother responded, regaining her composure. Then a huge smile swept across her tearstained face. “Now I can have more grandchildren, and I know that your parents have been waiting for their first,” she said as she left Maeri and walked into the kitchen.

Maeri just stood there for awhile. “But…we _just_ got engaged,” she mumbled.

“Honey! What are you doing? Come inside! We’re celebrating!” Woohyun called to her, snapping her out of her funk.

Maeri shook her head, regaining her sense of reality. “Coming, Sweetie!” she responded.

When she entered the kitchen, she saw everybody crowding around the kitchen table, which was suddenly laden with miscellaneous snacks gathered from both houses. She slid into a seat next to Woohyun. He was grinning from ear to ear, being the happiest he’d felt for a long time. He turned to his father and apologized,  “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you first.”

His father just waved him off. “Don’t worry about it, son. I’m just glad to hear it.”

“Tell us how it happened,” Maeri’s mother urged.

“How I proposed?” Woohyun asked. She nodded. He looked down at the table, slightly embarrassed. “There’s not much to tell. It kinda just happened spur of the moment.” He quickly told them about the park bench and the ice cream; then he quickly made a joke of how she was the best birthday gift he’d ever gotten, which had gotten good reactions from his audience. His mom looked as if she was about to cry again, and his father tried hard to maintain his stiff lip.

Then his mother scrunched her face. “I always thought you were going to do some grand, romantic gesture with balloons and flowers,” she said dreamily. Woohyun blushed. His mother knew him so well, even how he had wanted to propose. Then she broke out into a laugh, “But I watch too many dramas. This is probably how couples do it nowadays, especially if they’ve known each other as long as you have.”

Maeri squeezed Woohyun’s hand. “I thought it was perfect,” she said to him in a loud whisper. Then to everyone else, “I don’t like big events like that anyway. It draws too much attention.”

“Well,” her mother started. “I hope you don’t mind big gifts.”

“Hm? What do you mean ‘gift’?” Maeri asked. “You didn’t need to get us anything.”

“Sh!” Woohyun said to her. “What did you get us?” he asked. Maeri punched him in the thigh under the table for his lack of tact. But he didn’t care; he was getting a gift.

“Can you get it?” Maeri’s mother asked her husband. Maeri’s dad nodded wordlessly and left the table. Her mother turned her attention to the couple, as did the rest of the table, apparently Maeri and Woohyun were the only two who weren’t in on the secret (well, Jonghyun wasn’t either, but he was too busy stuffing his face with food to care). “Well, we had this for a while, thinking that this would happen sooner. But I guess we got ahead of ourselves and that Woohyun was just dragging his feet. No, I don’t really mean that, Woohyun. I was just kidding. Anyway, where was I? Oh right, so we were thinking of subletting it. We could’ve made some extra money. That would’ve been nice…”

“Mom, what are you trying to say?” Maeri interrupted. “You didn’t…”

Then her father came in with a large grin across his face, grabbed Woohyun’s hand, and placed something in it. Woohyun looked at it, a key. “What’s this for?” he asked with a slight laugh.

“Your apartment,” her father responded. Then he slapped Woohyun on the back. “Take good care of her, son.”

“Yea, Ahjussi…”

* * *

 

And so Woohyun and Maeri began to prepare for their move into the new apartment almost immediately. When Maeri’s mother said that they had it for awhile, she wasn’t lying. Both sets of parents had bought the apartment 3 years ago, when Woohyun had told them that he had a big surprise for Maeri (which just ended up being concert tickets for her favorite idol band). So for the next 3 years, they had furnished it with some odd and end furniture bought from sales and taken from neighbors who were more than willing to get rid of some of their old furniture. This meant that the apartment was move-in ready, which their parents were pressuring them to move in as soon as possible. “The sooner the better!” Maeri’s parents must’ve wanted grandkids badly.

Eventually Woohyun told Dongwoo about his new living arrangements, but he had a difficult time bringing the topic up to Dongwoo. He felt like he was hanging his roommate out to dry. “Dongwoo, I’m sorry,” Woohyun began as he was pulling out his suitcase from his closet. Dongwoo, who’d been helping him pack, was folding his clothes. “I’ll pay for my share of the rent until you find a new roommate,” he offered.

Dongwoo smiled as he began to put the folded clothes into the suitcase. “Don’t worry about it,” he responded.

“You can’t be making that much money as an oriental doctor to afford this place by yourself,” Woohyun retorted. “Just let me pay. It’ll make me feel better.”

“Actually…” he began slowly. “I already found someone else.”

“What?!” Woohyun said in mock shock, throwing down his clothes. “You’re replacing me already?!”

Dongwoo picked up the clothes that he threw down and dusted them off. “You know I can’t replace you,” he responded honestly, refolding the clothes.

“Who is it? Who’s the new man?” Woohyun asked in jest. “I bet he’s not as handsome as I am.”

“He might be prettier,” Dongwoo quickly responded, but as soon as he saw his friend’s face fall, Dongwoo ran over to hug him. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding.”

“You better be,” Woohyun said peeling Dongwoo off of him. “But seriously, who is it?”

“A friend from high school is moving here. I’ve been trying to help him find an apartment, but nothing was open. Well nothing good anyway. So this was perfect,” Dongwoo answered, mostly focusing on folding Woohyun’s clothes.

Woohyun pouted. “I’m glad that I worked out so well for you.”

Dongwoo laughed out of nervousness. “Don’t give me that! You’re moving in with your fiancée!”

Woohyun smiled to himself. His and Maeri’s relationship was traveling at break neck speed, but he was more excited than nervous. After all, they knew everything about each other. Why would they need to waste time dating?  And soon, they’ll be living together. And stemming from that notion, his mind began to whir with all sorts of devious thoughts. He couldn’t help but to let out a perverted little chuckle.

Dongwoo threw a t-shirt at his face, snapping him back into reality. “Yah! Why am I the only one packing?” he demanded.

“Sorry,” Woohyun quickly apologized and returned to packing.

“Hey!” Dongwoo called out. Woohyun looked over to see him holding up a cheetah print t-shirt. “Are you really going to bring this? You don’t want to give it away?”

Woohyun tore it away from him. “Psh! Throw it away? This is cool! Right?” he defended, holding the t-shirt up to himself. Dongwoo just shook his head. “Your shirt has wings on it. You have no idea what cool is.”

“Hey! Wings are cool!”

* * *

 

Finally after days of fitful sleep, Maeri finally slept soundly (which was surprising because last night her father basically handed her over to Woohyun and washed his hands of her). It was good that she’d gotten rest, because once again she and Sungjong woke up early to finish appraising Sunggyu’s estate. This time, she let Sungjong sleep on their way up (she began to fear the kid. He had 10 more questions left, and she wasn’t about to remind him). Even Sunggyu looked well rested; he was smiling more when he welcomed them inside and showed them the rest of the furniture that needed appraising.

After finishing with the jewelry box, she was taking pictures of the larger pieces of furniture, making sure to capture every single detail and mark that would help in their assessment. The last piece was a beautiful table made of teak. She had taken a picture of the table from almost every angle, but there was just one more thing she need. So she crawled underneath the table with her camera and laid on her back.

“What are you doing under there?” she heard a voice ask with a chuckle. She looked to her side to see a pair of dress shoes too expensive for Sungjong to own.

Maeri laughed. “This must look weird. Huh, Sunggyu-ssi?”

He crouched down so that he could see her face to face. He smiled. “What are you looking for?” he asked curiously.

“Come join me,” Maeri politely commanded, scooting over slightly. She patted the ground next to her, coaxing him. Reluctantly, he came down and laid by her side. She smiled and pointed to the bottom of the table. “I got curious about the bottom of the table. I wanted to check out the joints and such. Also sometimes carpenters put their mark on it like a painter signs his paintings.”

Sunggyu nodded knowingly, “Like art.”

Maeri shook her head. “Not like art. Furniture _is_ art. Just because we use it does it make it any less of a work of art,” she passionately defended. She looked over to see him thinking about something, chewing on his lower lip. She hadn’t meant to offend him, but she couldn’t help but to defend her interests.

“You said you wanted to hear some stories about the pieces right?” Sunggyu asked, interrupting her worries.

“Yes, please,” she said encouragingly.

Sunggyu touched the bottom of the table. “I don’t know who made it, but this table has been here as long as the house has. We used to have every meal here as a family, growing up. Even my father did as a kid, and his father too. There was a lot of good conversations that happened here. I even  had my first drink with my father at this table. I remember, he told me that I finally became a man. And do you see this?” he pointed over to a crack in one of the legs. “I did that, when I was fooling around with noona. She accidentally knocked me into the table, and I chipped a tooth.”

“Really? Which one?” Maeri asked.

In response, Sunggyu widely opened his mouth and pointed to one of his canines. “ ‘Is un,” he managed to say with an open mouth. Maeri looked at it closely, but couldn’t find the chip in his tooth. Then he closed it. “I had it fixed, so you can’t really see it,” he said normally. He began to twiddle his thumbs. “I don’t know if that kind of story would help you sell it…”

Maei shook her head. “No, it’s perfect,” she interrupted.

Then another pair of feet appeared by their sides. A few seconds later Sungjong crouched down and looked at them curiously. They both let out an awkward laugh. Sungjong decided to pretend that it was normal to see two 30 year-olds laying under an antique table and just simply stated, “Noona, I’m done here. Are you close to being finished?”

Maeri rolled out from under the table and quickly stood up. “Just finished,” she announced. Sunggyu had followed her from under the table. She turned to him and said, “Well, Sunggyu-ssi, I guess we’re done here. We will keep you up to date about the appraisals, and we’ll be auctioning at the end of the month. You are more than welcome to come.”

“Maeri-ssi,” he interjected. She looked up at him. “Can I ask for a favor?”

* * *

 

Woohyun was packing up his final things into the trunk of his SUV, but there was still one more thing he had to do, say goodbye to Dongwoo. He knew that this wouldn’t be the end of their friendship (in fact they already made plans to have dinner with each other the next night), but it was the end of their relationship as roommates, a very special and close kind of friendship. They had seen each other in their boxers, stuff their faces with the weirdest combination of food, and go without showering for too long. They had seen each other at their worst and their best. But they didn’t judge each other for it; they loved each other like brothers, unconditionally.

All endings are sad; even if there is a happy new beginning looming over the horizon, it’s still hard to say goodbye, especially to things you really liked and enjoyed.

Dongwoo was already on the verge of tears, and Woohyun already knew how to push him over the edge. He bought his friend a gift. After packing up the car, he grabbed the gift from the back seat and walked back up to the apartment.

“Are you going to look around one last time?” Dongwoo asked with a sniff. “Make sure you don’t forget anything.”

“Dongwoo,” Woohyun called out, and his roommate looked up at him with shining eyes. Woohyun, who  was hiding the gift behind his back, brought it from its hiding spot and placed it in Dongwoo’s hands. “So you won’t miss me.” Dongwoo looked down at his hands to see a little red betta fish, swimmingly around quickly in its bowl. “His name is Little Woohyun.”

Dongwoo laughed and tears began to fall from his eyes.  Woohyun quickly took the fish from his hands because Dongwoo began to intentionally splash the water everywhere in his giggle/crying spasm. “Thank you,” he finally managed to spit out. “But nothing will be able to replace you.”

“Not even your new roommate?” Woohyun asked apprehensively. He wasn’t normally the jealous type, but Woohyun was a bit unnerved by how quickly Dongwoo had found a new roommate, a new replacement.

Dongwoo shook his head,  smiling through his tears. “No,” he responded. Then his laughing was renewed again. “I don’t even know why I’m crying! This is a happy occasion. You’re getting married.” Woohyun brought him into a hug as he was ranting, and Dongwoo hugged him back tightly.

“Oh!” Woohyun suddenly gasped, pulling out of the hug. Dongwoo sniffed in surprise. “I did forget something.”

“What?” Dongwoo asked, wiping his eyes.

Woohyun smiled and exclaimed, “You!” Then he threw Dongwoo on his back, raced out to his car, and threw his friend in the trunk of his car, cramming him in with the rest of his belongings. He shut the trunk door, with his friend protesting. While Dongwoo was beating on the trunk door to let him out, Woohyun’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He looked at the caller id; it was Maeri. He quickly answered it as he was leaning on the trunk door, feeling Dongwoo knock on the glass window behind him. “Oh, how’s my wife-y doing?”

“Sweetie, I’m going to be a bit late tonight,” Maeri answered with a sad sigh.

Woohyun stood up straight and pouted. “Why? But it’s our first night!” he complained.

“I know it’s just that my client asked for a favor…” she began to explain.

He interrupted, “Can’t you say no?” But he already knew the answer. Maeri took her job seriously, almost too seriously, willing to bend over backwards at any of her clients’ requests. She had not changed from the teacher’s pet attitude that she used to have in high school.

“He asked me to take him to his parents’ graves because he doesn’t have a car, and he won’t be able to visit them for awhile. I can’t say no to that. They just died!” she passionately explained in a hurried whisper, fearing that her client would overhear.

Woohyun smiled and chuckled, “Aigoo! My baby has a weak heart.”

He could sense Maeri pouting on the other side of the line as she retorted, “Hey! I thought we agreed on not calling each other ‘baby’.”

“Okay,” he said cutely, but then a mischievous smile appeared across his face. “I’ll let you go, but you have to do one thing for me.”

“Sure. What is it?” she asked apprehensively.

“Gimme a kiss.”

He was met with a few seconds of shocked silence, until he finally heard Maeri’s voice again, “Now?”

“Eung!” he answered while nodding enthusiastically (although she wouldn’t be able to see it).

He could envision Maeri inspecting her surroundings, looking to see if anybody was about to come. Then he heard a quiet and quick, “Chu!”

“Aw!” he exclaimed,  his heart immediately feeling warm by the sound.  “Again! One more!” he begged.

“Getting greedy, eh?” Maeri asked with a laugh.  “Fine. Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Chu! Is that enough?”

“Nope!” Woohyun answered. “More! More!”

But he was just pushing his luck, she just responded with, “You’re crazy.” Then after a slight pause and a sigh she said, “I got to go. I’ll pick up some jajangmyun on my way home, okay?”

“Okay see you soon,” Woohyun said. He expected to hear a click, or some sign that she had hung up, but he could still hear her breathing on into the mouthpiece. It sounded as if she was trying to say something. Woohyun chuckled and asked, “Why didn’t you hang up, Honey?”

“Where’s my kiss?” she asked quietly.

“Haha. Was that what you were waiting for?”  Woohyun laughed. He hadn’t expected her to be so needy for affection; he liked it. “See you at home, Honey. Chu!” he sent her off, fulfilling her request.

“Bye!” she said happily and hang up the phone.

Woohyun smiled and put his phone back into his pocket. He turned around and yelped while clutching his heart. He’d forgotten that Dongwoo was still trapped in the trunk, and his friend took the opportunity to press his face against the window, contorting his face into a monster like appearance, laying quietly in wait for Woohyun to turn around. Revenge was sweet.

* * *

 

Maeri was smiling broadly as she put the phone back into her coat pocket. “ I see that you said yes to your hypothetical proposal,” a voice said, causing her to jump. It was Sungjong.

Maeri tried to play it off coolly and opened the car door. “Just get in the car,” she commanded. Sungjong followed her orders, and slid into the backseat. “Where’s Sunggyu-ssi?” she asked.

“I’m here,” Sunggyu called out as he was scurrying over to the car, with flowers in his hand. “Sorry to keep you waiting, and thanks for doing this,” he said when he finally reached the car.

 “I’d be heartless if I said no,” Maeri said as she got into the driver’s seat. Sunggyu slid into the passenger’s seat. “So where is…the place? “ Maeri asked him, purposefully avoiding to use any morbid words. He still looked so distraught, and she didn’t want to add to his sadness.

“It’s about a 15 minute drive,” he answered, staring down at his flowers. “I’ll tell you how to get there.”

The ride to the cemetery was eerily silent, with the exception of the directions that Sunggyu would give from time to time. Maeri wanted to offer him some words of solace, but she wasn’t able to think of anything. Her tongue felt heavy in her mouth, unable to move. Even Sungjong who was normally talkative was in the back fiddling with the camera cases, pretending to be busy.

Once they arrived, Sunggyu nodded and muttered words of thanks before getting out of the car. Sungjong automatically leaned forward as soon as he left. “What do we do now? How long is this going to take? Why did you agree to do this?”

Maeri put her chin onto the steering wheel. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know!” she mumbled. Why did she always do this? Why did she always say yes? All she wanted to do right now was to go home, to Woohyun, and eat. She was starving, and Woohyun (even though she promised to bring food home) was probably cooking something  right now. She licked her lips in anticipation.

“Oh!” Sungjong said in surprise, looking out the window.  “He’s still there. Why don’t you think he left yet?” he asked pointing to Sunggyu who was standing in front of the entrance, his feet cemented into the ground. Maeri automatically unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. “Oh, where are you going?” Sungjong asked.

“He doesn’t want to go alone,” she said as she got out. Then she felt something wet hit the back of her neck. She reached back inside to grab her umbrella. “And now it’s raining.” She looked over to the intern before shutting the door. “We’ll be back soon.”

Maeri opened the umbrella, took in a deep breath, and walked over to Sunggyu. He seemed startled to see her appear all of the sudden by his side. She laughed a little and shook the umbrella gently. “It’s raining,” she said.

“Oh, thank you,” he said, getting in under the umbrella with her.

He tried to take it from her, but she wouldn’t let him and shook her head. “I’m coming with you,” she explained. “You seem to not want to be alone right now.”

“You don’t have to,” he responded, looking down at the ground. “I can do this by myself.”

“And that’s why you haven’t moved from this spot in five minutes,” Maeri joked.

Sunggyu looked up and laughed sadly. “Right,” he admitted.

Maeri then thrust the umbrella into his hands, making Sunggyu confused. “I’m still coming with you, but hold this. You’re too tall, and my arms too small. You hold it, unless you want me to keep hitting you in the head,” she explained. Sunggyu smiled and took hold of the umbrella and handed her the flowers to hold, which she willingly accepted. “Well, lead the way,” she urged.

Once they reached his parents’ graves, Maeri couldn’t help but to hold her breath. Her father once told her not to breath when in a cemetery because the spirits would get jealous of her ability to breathe, to live (although now she understands that it was probably a ploy to get her to stop yelling inappropriately at her grandfather’s funeral). Even after all these years, it was still a reflex. Her cheeks were puffed, holding in her breath. Sunggyu poked at her cheek, startling her. “Sorry,” he apologized, looking embarrassed. “Were you holding your breath?”

Maeri nodded. “Old habit, I guess,” she said. “So the ghosts won’t steal my breath or my life.”

Sunggyu chuckled, “You’re weird.”

“You just noticed?” she joked.

He took the flowers from her and took a step towards his parents’ graves, laying side-by-side. “You don’t need to worry,” he said as he laid the flowers next to the pictures of his parents. “My parents wouldn’t kill you, even as ghosts. They were good people.”

Maeri walked next to him, following the coverage of the umbrella. She looked at the pictures. “They look very kind,” she remarked. “You look just like your mom, except your eyes. They’re your dad’s.”

Sunggyu pouted. Maeri wonder if she said too much or something wrong. “I look like a woman?” he asked.

Maeri laughed, relieved. “If it makes you feel any better, people always say that I look exactly like my dad,” she offered.

Sunggyu nodded. “It does a little,” he admitted. Then he turned to Maeri. “Do you mind turning around or covering your ears? There’s a few things that I want to say.”

“Consider it done,” she said, giving him a thumbs up. She turned his back towards him, placed her fingers into her ears, and began humming a random song that just popped into her head. She did this until she hummed the entire song, then she turned to look at Sunggyu out of the corner of her eye. He was wiping his nose, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. He caught her glance, and she turned back around and started humming more loudly.

She felt a hand on her shoulder; she turned around to see Sunggyu, pulling her fingers out of her ears. “I’m done here. We can leave now,” he said quietly.

“Do you mind if I say something?” Maeri asked. Sunggyu was surprised but nodded. Maeri turned towards the graves and smiled towards the pictures. “Sunggyu-ssi’s mom and dad, I don’t know your son very well. Heck, we just met yesterday. But he seems like a good kid, a very good kid. And he loves you a lot. You did a good job,” she said, trying to offer Sunggyu comfort. She heard him sniff behind her. She slowly turned around to see his expression, he was smiling.

“Thank you…for everything,” he said. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yep. We better get back soon. I forgot to crack a window open for Sungjong. He’s still in the car.”

* * *

 

“Sweetie, I’m home!” Maeri called as she walked into the apartment and took off her shoes. She didn’t hear anything in response. “Sweetie?” she called again and walked around the corner. “Where are you? I have food…” Her voice dropped. She couldn’t find Woohyun anywhere,  and worst of all, there was no scent of his cooking, which she was looking forward to it (he cooked so rarely for her). No on second thought, the worst was not being welcomed by his warm smile. Her day had been slightly depressing (going to the graves with Sunggyu) and tiring (the wait at the restaurant was long, being forced to stand for almost an hour). His smile always energized her; she needed it. With a loud sigh she sunk down onto their sofa, slouching in disappointment. Where was he?

“Boo!” Woohyun shouted from behind the sofa (he was hiding back there ever since he heard her key click in the lock). Maeri jumped up and slapped him in the face, thinking he was some sort of intruder. This wasn’t how he thought his little surprise would pan out (expecting a hug instead of a slap), but he should’ve known what would happen. Sometimes she was afraid of her own shadow like a little groundhog. He rubbed his now red cheek and pouted. “What took you so long?”

Maeri looked down, embarrassed of her reflex. “Sorry. There were some things I needed to drop off at the shop, and then the restaurant took forever,” she apologized. Then she gently patted his red cheek, her eyes filled with regret. “Sorry. Let’s eat!” she urged placing the bags on the table.

Woohyun vaulted over the sofa and grabbed the bag of food, pulling out the two servings of jajangmyun.  His stomach felt as if it was about to cave. He could’ve eaten something without Maeri, but it didn’t feel right. The first meal in the apartment should be eaten together, not some hastily made ramyun. , scarfed down in 30 seconds. He looked over at Maeri who was stuffing her face with noodles, the black bean sauce already dripping down her chin. _She eats like a monster_. He laughed and grabbed some napkins, dabbing her chin. “Right! Eat up! Because the faster we eat, the faster we can go to bed,” he said with a wink and then proceeded to stuff as many noodles as he could in his mouth.

Maeri choked on her food. “Huh?”

* * *

 

“Move over! I hafta spit!” Woohyun complained and nudged Maeri out of the way. She stumbled a bit and glared at him. They were getting ready for bed, brushing their teeth, crammed into the small bathroom. Their elbows were knocking into each other with each stroke. Woohyun ignored Maeri’s glare and just spat into the sink. Then he took a swig of water and gargled.

Maeri now pushed him out of the way and spat into the sink, causing him to choke a little and some of the water splashed out of his mouth. It was his turn to glare. “Are we going to be fighting over the sink every night?” she asked, wiping the foam from her mouth.

Woohyun shrugged and spat again. “Look! Minty fresh!” he exclaimed as he blew air into her face.

“Yah!” she scrunched her face and pushed him away. “What are you…” she started but then she opened her eyes and realized that he wasn’t in the bathroom anymore. After looking for him, she found him in their bed already, snuggling under the sheets _. How did he get there so fast? And just one bed…our bed._

Woohyun looked over and patted the spot next to him. “What are you waiting for, Honey?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. He saw Maeri wavering at the threshold of the bathroom. He laughed. “I don’t bite, and it’s not like we’ve never shared a bed before.”

Maeri raised her eyebrows and leaned on the door’s frame. “It was a tent, and we had separated sleeping bags.  And your parents were watching us like hawks,” she argued.

Woohyun looked around comically. “They’re not here now,” he said and patted the spot next to him again. He saw Maeri flinch at his innuendo. He knew fully well how shy this girl was, and they went from being friends straight to being engaged without even really dating. Her hesitation was understandable, but Woohyun couldn’t help but to feel a little hurt. Didn’t she want this? He propped a pillow and sat up. “Maeri, I was joking,” he said, and he could already see Maeri’s tensed shoulders relax. “We haven’t really kissed yet. Do you think that I’m really going to pounce on you the moment you get in this bed? Do you really think that I’m that kind of guy?”

Maeri blushed and looked away. “Of course not,” she finally spoke. Then she left the bathroom and started to make her way towards the bed. “It’s just that…I’m scared, not of you but of, well, everything else.” She cautiously sat on the bed, her shoulders brushing up against his. _Good_ , Woohyun thought, _she’s not trying to stay away as far as she can_. Maeri spoke again, “This is just all so new. And new stuff…is scary. Change is scary.”

Woohyun carefully placed an arm around her shoulders. “And that’s why you love old, dusty furniture,” he joked. Maeri giggled a little, already feeling more comfortable. He placed her head on his shoulder. “New things can be good too.”

“This is nice,” Maeri replied with a smile as she snuggled against Woohyun’s neck. Then she frowned. “But there’s just one thing…”

“What?”

“Why are your feet so damn cold? Did you soak them in ice?” Maeri asked scooting her lower half further away from his feet, bring her knees up.

Woohyun laughed. “I can’t help it,” he whined, pretending to be offended. Then he let go of her and shoved her away. “Why is your body so hot? It’s like I’m holding a furnace.”

Maeri smiled and licked her finger before pressing it on her skin, making a hissing noise. “I’m sorry that I’m too hot for you to handle,” she retorted.

“I can cool you down,” Woohyun said and attacked her side with his icy feet.

She automatically batted them away. “Yah! Are you trying to freeze me to death?”

“Maybe.” They fought like this for a while. Woohyun kept pressing his feet on every inch of Maeri’s exposed skin, including her neck and face. And she would respond by trying to pin him down to make him stop. Eventually Maeri had managed to get him in a headlock. “Truce. Truce!” Woohyun begged, hitting her arms.

Maeri let him go and crawled over to her side of the bed, reveling in her victory. “Teaches you not to mess with me,” she said lying down. She turned over on her side to look at Woohyun. “Goodnight, Sweetie! Sweet dreams!” she bid him before closing her eyes.

Woohyun laid down next to her, facing her. “Hey, Honey,” he said softly. She didn’t budge, but he knew that he could hear her. No one fell asleep that fast. “Yah! Maeri!” he said a bit louder. Still no response, so he blew at her face.

Her eyes automatically opened and shot him an annoyed glance. “What?” she growled.

Woohyun conjured up the cutest smile he possibly could and begged. “Can you be the big spoon, and I’ll be the little spoon?” Maeri just stared at him blankly. “No one else would let me. Guys always have to be the big spoon. It’s sexist!” Maeri scoffed at him  and flipped onto her other side. Woohyun poked her in the back multiple times. “Please, Honey. Pretty please!”

Maeri turned around with an unreadable expression. “Fine,” she finally granted and her face warmed up. “But on one condition.” Woohyun nodded. “You have to wear socks.”

“Done!”

* * *

 

Maeri rolled her neck and stretched her arm. “I can see why girls don’t like being the big spoon. My arm is still sore,” she complained.

Woohyun smiled. “I liked it. Slept like a baby.” He touched her arms. “Your arms are so soft, like a pillow.”

Maeri pushed him away and frowned. She flexed her muscles a little bit. _They’re not fat. There’s muscle_. She looked over at Woohyun and pointed at him. “We’re switching positions tonight,” she stated. Woohyun frowned and was about to argue, but someone interrupted.

“Oh! Kinky!” a woman said, coming from the back room of the auction house, where they stored the furniture. She walked up to Maeri and whispered lowly so Woohyun wouldn’t hear, “Had a wild night last night, huh? He looks like he would be fun.” The woman carefully scanned Woohyun’s body with lusty eyes.

Maeri pushed the woman away. “Yah! Shin Sora! Be professional, won’t you!” Woohyun laughed. If he wasn’t mistaken, Maeri was actually protecting him. “Is it ready?” she asked Sora.

“Yep! Just finished processing it. It’s all yours,” Sora said handing over receipts to her co-worker. “Congrats!”

Maeri smiled, her heart thumping with excitement. It was hers. It was a very expensive impulse buy, but it was hers. She grabbed Woohyun’s arm. “Come on, Sweetie. Let’s load it into the car,” she said as she led him into the back room. “This is it!” she exclaimed when they approached their new addition to their apartment.

 Woohyun crouched down, inspecting it. He turned back to her and raised his eyebrow. “This is it?” he asked. “It looks…dingy. And it’s broken,” he declared, pointing at the crack on the leg.

Maeri rolled her eyes. “It’s an antique. It’s supposed to look like this.” She gently touched the table and grinned. “Plus look at the workmanship. It’s a beautiful piece of wood.” Woohyun snorted and broke out into a laugh. Maeri softly hit him in the head with her fist. “Aigoo! Get your mind out of the gutter.”

Woohyun wouldn’t stop. “It’s funny to see you so excited over…wood,” he said with a naughty giggle. Maeri frowned and bit her lip. “Why did you buy this? We already have a table.”

Maeri was speechless; she had no legitimate answer. She ran her fingers over the smooth, dark surface of the teak table. She had fallen in love with it (if you can have those feelings for furniture) the moment she saw it in Sunggyu’s home, especially since it was attached to such tender memories (maybe her and Woohyun will make happy memories here too). Also, her boss Debah said that it was too plain to draw any more money over the asking price in an auction; Maeri convinced her to let her buy it, forgoing the auction. Now it was hers…well, theirs. She looked over to Woohyun and smiled. “But it’s pretty,” she cooed. Then she patted him on the shoulder. “Come on. Let’s get it into your car.”

They lugged the table with difficulty out of the back room, making sure not to bump into any of the other antiques in there. Once they got out, they ran into Sora. “Oh, are you going to help us?” Maeri asked.

Sora’s eyes were fastened onto Woohyun. She bit her lip. “Nope, I’d rather watch.”

“YAH!”

Woohyun was enjoying seeing this protective side of Maeri.

* * *

 

Maeri opened the apartment door and was greeted by Sungjong’s friendly face.  “Welcome to our apartment! Come in!” She welcomed the intern. Woohyun and she were having a house-warming party, which she thought was going to be a small gathering of friends. She had forgotten that Woohyun’s circle of friends was as large as the circumference of the earth. Maeri had to invite everybody she knew, just to compete with Woohyun’s mob friends.

Sungjong walked in and inspected his surroundings. “Interesting decor,” he commented. Maeri blushed. She had crammed the few antiques and belongings she had, but her home was still overwhelmed by the hodge-podge decor their parents had accumulated for them. It was an odd mix.

“Sora and the others are over there,” Maeri said, changing the subject and pointing to their fellow coworkers in a corner.

Sungjong shook his head. “I’m avoiding Sora-ssi ever since she ‘unintentionally’ grabbed my ass the other day.”

Maeri nodded knowingly and patted him on the head. “Good plan. She’s lucky that she hasn’t been accused of harassment yet.” Then she saw someone approaching her cautiously out of the corner of her eye. “Oh! Hoya, have you met Sungjong? He works with me.”

Hoya and Sungjong exchanged pleasantries. He then began to give nervous glances to Maeri. “Um,” he finally started. “Woohyun said that you would introduce me to some of your single friends.”

“He did?” Maeri asked. He didn’t tell her about it earlier, but she wasn’t surprised. “Sure! Any of my friends would be happy to meet you.” Then she turned to Sungjong, “I would offer…”

Sungjong put up a hand to stop her. “I’m not interested in ahjummahs. Besides, with this face, I do well on my own,” he said with a bright smile before taking his leave.

“Woah! Where does he get that confidence?’ Hoya asked.

Maeri scoffed. “Over-confidence,” she corrected him. “Come on, let’s get you a lady,” she said as she hooked her arm through his and led him to the small corner of her friends, approaching a small gaggle of women.  “But honestly, your options are limited,” she began. “There’s my college friend, Jimin, over there,” she said, pointing over to a petite woman with her back facing towards them. “She has a great personality and is hilarious!” she vouched.

Hoya looked hopeful, until the woman turned around and showed her face. He grimaced. “She looks worst than Oh Nami,” he commented.

Maeri patted his arm. “Yea, didn’t think you’d be interested. There’s a reason why women around their 30s are still single,” she admitted. She then scanned the room searching for the rest of her single friends. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “There’s my friend, Sora, who’s going through a divorce right now.”

“Where is she?” Hoya asked. Maeri pointed over to her coworker dressed in a white dress and who happened to be sweetly laughing at the comment some had just told her. She looked all too innocent.

“Introduce me to her,” Hoya commanded politely.

Maeri bit her lip, wondering if she should subject sweet, slightly shy Hoya to such an…animal. “But she’s not exactly single right now, and there’s a reason why she’s getting a divorce …” she tried to change his mind.

Hoya interrupted, “Please.” He gave her a rather desperate expression. _And this guy swears he can’t do aegyo._

“Fine,” she acquiesced. She pulled him over to her friend. “Sora!” she called. “This is my friend, Hoya. He’s a physical education teacher at a high school around here.” Hoya waved politely at Sora, but Maeri could tell that her friend was crestfallen at the mention of Hoya’s profession. Maeri smiled and knew how to counter it. “Whoa, Hoya!” she said in shock and squeezed his bicep. “Have you been working out more? You’re guns are so big!” Maeri exclaimed. She could see her friend’s eyes widen in anticipation.

Hoya flexed them, while casting shy glances over towards Sora. “Yea, I’ve been working on them. I’m trying to be a fitness trainer.”

Sora’s eyes were fixed on his arm. “You don’t say?” she asked in a sensual voice. Maeri rolled her eyes. “Can I touch them?” Sora asked. Hoya cautiously nodded as the woman immediately latched her hand to his upper arm. Maeri took that as her cue to leave. Maybe Sora’s extreme forwardness would help Hoya to break out of his shell. _Not bad, Maeri, not bad. Maybe you should make a career in this_.

She  felt an tug on her arm, and she turned around to see Dongwoo and Woohyun. “Oh, Sweetie! Dongwoo! What’s up?”

“I’m good,” Dongwoo answered with a smile, but it was obvious that he approached her with a hidden agenda. “Look, I saw what you did for Hoya, and…”

Maeri giggled, “What am I a pimp?”

“I was thinking more of a wing-woman,” Woohyun said with a chuckle as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

Maeri nudged Dongwoo in the side. “Why? Do you see someone you like?” she teased.

“No, no!” he immediately denied, waving her off. “It’s for my new roommate.”

“No way! He’s here?” Maeri said in shock and began to scan the room for him, curious to see who Woohyun’s replacement was. She could see Woohyun pouting from the corner of her eye.

Dongwoo explained, “Yea, I dragged him here. He doesn’t know anybody else besides me in the area, and he hasn’t been having a good time with things lately, so maybe…”

“I’ll see what I can do,” Maeri said with a wink. “So where is the lucky guy?”

“He’s the weirdo over by the table,” Woohyun sneered and pointed. Maeri looked over at the direction he was pointing, and sure enough, there was a peculiar man who was  lifting the tablecloth off of the teak table (which they were using to hold the snacks) and looking at its legs. Woohyun leaned in to whisper in Maeri’s ear, “Set him up with your Sistar 29 friend. I don’t like him…trying to steal Dongwoo from me.” His eyes were sending daggers into the man’s back.

“Yah! Jimin has a lovely personality!” she whispered back. “Any guy would be lucky to have her.”

Woohyun nodded knowingly, having heard this several times from Maeri. He patted Dongwoo on the back. “Come on, let’s go, and let my lady do her thing,” he said. Before he dragged his friend back into the thick of the party, he squeezed Maeri and whispered, “Sistar 29.”

Maeri rolled her eyes before taking up the mission and walked up next to the strange man ogling at her table. “Soo,” she began. “I’m supposed to set you up.” Not the greatest introduction, but it got straight to the point.

“Huh?” the man asked as he turned to her. His eyes widened. “Maeri-ssi?!”

“Sunggyu-ssi, you’re Dongwoo’s new roommate?!” Maeri asked, completely shocked. She was pretty sure that her jaw had unhinged. She could not believe her eyes. And he apparently couldn’t either, looking as equally surprised as she was.

“Uh? Yea,” he sputtered, still unable to regain his footing. He cocked his head to the side. “How do you know him?”

Maeri nodded. “Yes, through Woohyun.” She grabbed some chips and stuffed them in her mouth. She wasn’t hungry, but all of the sudden she had this nervous energy, her hands becoming restless; they had to do something.

“Who’s that?” Sunggyu asked also nibbling on the chips.

Maeri leaned in and joked, “You’re kinda in his home right now.”

“Oh,” Sunggyu nodded. Then he knocked on the table. “That explains this. Did you sell him my table?”

Maeri blushed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ears. She didn’t exactly sell it, in fact Sora was the one who collected the commission. But she thought it would be weird to admit that she was the one to buy it. Instead she avoided giving a direct answer, “Like I said, people like pieces with a story.” Sunggyu smiled and gathered a few more chips into his hand. “So do you want me to set you up with one of my friends?” Maeri asked, remembering the reason why she approached him in the first place, and changing the subject. “They’re very nice.”

“Nice?” Sunggyu repeated with a smile. _Right most people would praise their friends’ beauty to allure men, but I didn’t. Oops_. Then he interrupted her thoughts with a wave of his hands. “It’s okay. You don’t have to,” he replied. Then there was a short pause as he inspected the chips in his hand. “Actually, I already have my eye on someone else,” he said with a shy glance.

Maeri leaned in, being filled with curiosity. “Really? Who?”

Sunggyu put a finger to his lips. “It’s a secret.” Maeri stood back up and pouted, and he laughed a little. “So how do you know Woohyun?” he asked.

As if on cue, Woohyun walked up to her and planted a peck on her cheek. “Honey! I missed you.”

Maeri blushed while smiling brightly. “It’s only been a few minutes,” she said in a low voice.

Woohyun shrugged and turned his attention towards his new rival. “Gyu-yah!” he called to him warmly. Sunggyu was taken slightly aback by his friendliness. Maeri mouthed to Sunggyu ‘Woohyun,’ introducing her fiancé to him because he forgot to do it himself. “Did my wife-y introduce you to any of her hot friends?”

“Wife-y?” Sunggyu choked on his chips.

Maeri’s blush deepened, becoming as red as a strawberry. “Not technically. We’re engaged,” she answered, holding up hand with the engagement ring. Realization slowly crept over Sunggyu, and he nodded in acceptance, eating some more chips. Maeri patted Woohyun on his chest. “Sweetie, do you remember the client I told you about last week?” she asked him.

“The one that ruined  our first night,” he clarified. Sunggyu started choking again.

Maeri covered her fiancé’s mouth. “Shut up!” she warned before removing her hand. Then she gestured to Sunggyu. “Anyway, this is him.”

“No way! Gyu, is that true?!” Woohyun exclaimed.

“Uh yea,” Sunggyu replied, finding his voice again.

Woohyun chuckled. “Small world.” Then his eyes twinkled, a brilliant idea was dawning in his mind. “Oh, you should do noraebang with us later! Dongwoo says that you can sing.”

“You can?!” Maeri asked .

Sunggyu looked down at his feet. “It’s been a while,” he admitted.

Woohyun laughed and pointed at Maeri. “You’ll still be better than her,” he teased.

“Hey!” Maeri began, but then she hung her head. “Yea, it’s true.”

Then someone coming in through the door caught Woohyun’s eyes. “Oh! It’s Sungyeol!” he exclaimed. He gave Maeri a final squeeze and turned towards Sunggyu. “See you later tonight, Gyu!” Then he left, bounding towards his tall coworker.

Maeri and Sunggyu were left awkwardly standing next to each other. Both of them refusing to look at each other; the silence grew heavy. Maeri was about to grab another chip to munch on, but her hand was met with nothing but the bowl’s smooth bottom. “Oh! We’re out!” she exclaimed. “I better get some more.” _Finally, an escape!_ Maeri grabbed the empty bowl and made her way to the kitchen. But her perfect plan for an escape had one flaw, Sunggyu was still able to follow her, which he did.

“So,” he started, breaking the silence. “how long have you been engaged?”

Maeri grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard and thought for a few seconds. “About a week…Actually, I said yes the day we met,” she said, giving him a time-marker.

His eyes widened. “Really?” Then he put his hands in his pockets and leaned back. “So when you asked about soul mates…you were talking about him?”

Maeri began to pour the chips in the bowl, but missed slightly. She laughed nervously as she picked up the fallen chips and put them in her mouth. After chewing and swallowing (giving her time to think), she finally answered, “I guess.” To be honest, she couldn’t remember why. It was just a question weighing on her mind.

“You guess?” Sunggyu repeated skeptically.

Woohyun then poked his head through the entryway. “Honey, come here!” He beckoned Maeri. “I want to show you off to Sungyeol.” Maeri blushed, causing Woohyun to smile more widely. He liked making her blush.

“Coming, Sweetie!” she said handing the chip bowl over to Sunggyu. “I’ll see you later.” Then she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. Maeri grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the kitchen. “Oh, Jimin-ie! Have you met Kim Sunggyu?”

Jimin strutted over to Sunggyu and playfully touched him on the shoulder. “Mister Kim, you’re cute!” she announced in what she deemed to be a sexy voice. Maeri laughed as she scurried out of the kitchen. Her friend was a little bit too much like Oh Nami.

“Mae-Maeri-ss!” Sunggyu desperately called after her, but he was already in the clutches of her friend. And she wouldn’t let go.

Maeri spotted Woohyun chatting with Sungyeol and his wife. She walked up to them and grabbed Woohyun by his hand. He smiled and squeezed it tightly. “Maeri! Congrats!” Sungyeol said excitedly.

“Congrats to you too! Woohyun told me about your baby,” she responded.

Sungyeol brought his wife in closer to his side, and his hand flew to her growing baby bump. “I did that! That’s my baby! I put it in there!” He was barely able to control his excitement.

Woohyun laughed. “Still excited, huh?”

Sungyeol nodded enthusiastically. “I have 3 books about pregnancy already. It’s really a beautiful process,” he finished smiling warmly to his wife.

His wife nodded in agreement to him, and then she leaned over and whispered to Maeri, “He has no idea what’s going to happen. He doesn’t read past the first chapter.” Then she leaned back and extended her hand. “I’m Soyeon,” she introduced herself. Maeri took her hand and shook it warmly.

“Sungyeol, we should all go out on a date,” Woohyun proposed.

Sungyeol practically jumped. “Soyeon and I always wanted to go on couple dates, but people always said no. I don’t know why,” he said looking at his wife. She shrugged.

“It’d be a lot of fun,” Soyeon urged.

Then Sungyeol looked at his watch and gasped. “We better get home. Pregnant ladies need their sleep!” he exclaimed.

“But we’re having so much fun,” Soyeon said with a yawn and leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder. “We’re making friends…” she said drowsily. Then she practically passed out onto his shoulder.

Woohyun and Maeri looked at him curiously. Sungyeol gave a nervous laugh. “She’s like this every night. 10 o’clock, and she’s out like a light. Pregnancy is weird.” He looked at her drooling on his shoulder. “Good thing she’s cute when she sleeps.” Then he waved as he dragged his unconscious wife out of the apartment.

“Aw! They’re cute,” Maeri said still waving goodbye.

“Yea, but we’re cuter,” Woohyun retorted.

“Psh! No contest.”

* * *

 

At the end of the night, the only ones who were up for noraebang were Woohyun, Maeri, Dongwoo, and Sunggyu, who had no choice in the matter. He was sitting in the corner, watching the rest of them excitedly pick out a set list for the evening. Woohyun looked over at him curiously. He was well aware of Sunggyu’s current situation, being recently orphaned, selling his childhood home, but did the guy have to be so gloomy? This was supposed to be a celebration of his and Maeri’s new life, but Sunggyu was being a wet blanket, smoldering the fun out of the evening with his wetness. “Gyu-yah!” he called out. “Do you want to pick out a song?”

“I’m good,” Sunggyu responded, sipping on his drink.

Woohyun whispered to Maeri and Dongwoo, “What’s his problem?”

Dongwoo shrugged, focused on finding the perfect song. “He’s just being stubborn,” he deduced. “He gets like this sometimes, especially when he’s tired.”

Maeri picked up her drink and stood up. “I’ll go talk to him,” she commented. Then she slightly stumbled (she’d been drinking) over to the gloomy man in corner. She sat down next to him. “Sunggyu-yah! Let’s drop the formalities!”

Sunggyu cradled his drink and smiled. “Okay Maeri.”

“We’re going to be good friends. I can feel it,” she confessed.

“Really? How so?”

Maeri shrugged. “I don't know. I just feel it here,” she said pointing towards her heart. “Or here,” she pointed to her head. “Or here. Hehehe” she giggled, pointing to her stomach.

“Someone’s had a little bit too much to drink,” he joked.

Maeri nudged him. “Someone hasn’t had enough,” she remarked about his grave demeanor. She then grabbed his drink and poured some of hers into it. “One shot!” she commanded. But he just brushed her off with a laugh. She then thrust the cup into his face. “One shot!” she commanded with more force.

“Okay! Okay!” he gave in, taking the drink. Then he slowly gulped it down and grimaced once he was done. “Aah! That’s strong. What was that?” he asked, smacking his lips, trying to rid the taste from his mouth.

“Whiskey,” she said with a giggle, continuing to sip her drink.

Sunggyu frowned. “How can you drink that?”

Maeri was about to answer but Dongwoo interrupted her. “Gyu! You’re singing whether you want to or not! I want to hear your pretty voice! It’s been too long.” His roommate ended with some whining and cute wiggling.

Sunggyu looked down at his drink before responding. “Sure,” he finally gave in. “But I got to go to the bathroom first.” Then he stood up and scurried out of the booth.

Woohyun turned to Dongwoo. “He is going to come back, right?” he asked. Dongwoo denied it but Woohyun wasn’t convinced. To be honest, Woohyun wouldn’t be surprised if Sunggyu just went home. Woohyun tried hard to be friendly to him, even calling him by the same nickname Dongwoo did, but Sunggyu just had this barrier against him. As if Sunggyu hated him from the moment the met. _He didn’t even give me a chance_. Woohyun wasn’t used to people who didn’t fall for his charm. _I’m lovable, damn it!_ _Gyu, you will like me. Just wait and see_. “I have to go to the bathroom too,” Woohyun lied as he left the booth to follow his target.

But as Woohyun entered into the hallways and heard a peculiar sound. _What is it? Howling? Moaning? No. It actually sounds like_ …his thoughts were interrupted when he rounded the corner and found the source. “Gyu …are you practicing?” Woohyun asked with a chuckle, staring at the man warming up his vocal chords.

Sunggyu immediately shut his mouth tightly and turned to Woohyun completely embarrassed. “Well, uh, it’s been a while, and Dongwoo built me up to be this great singer,” he defended, his eyes fixated on the ground. _He’s really that self-conscious? Noraebang is all about letting go, and he is taking it so seriously_. It reminded Woohyun a bit of Maeri, who was always concerned with what others thought of her. In fact, every time they went to noraebang, she practically has a cup of alcohol surgically attached to her hand, giving her a bit of liquid courage. _Maybe I misjudged him_.

Woohyun put his arm around Sunggyu’s shoulders. “I won’t tell anybody. You’re secret is safe with me,” he reassured him, leading him back into the booth. “Besides, like I said before, you’ll be better than Maeri.” The he opened the door, revealing Dongwoo and Maeri rapping to a hip-hop song. Well, Dongwoo was rapping. Maeri on the other hand was bouncing around, shouting nonsensical words into the microphone. Sunggyu mouth dropped at the sight. Woohyun laughed. It was like he was watching a famous rapstar and next to him, a little baby babbling to his song. “That’s my baby! Go, Honey!” he cheered her on. Encouraged by his words, Maeri started to perform her own version of the robot. Dongwoo joined her in her frantic dance. At the end of the song he took the “battery” from her back, and she “shut down,” waving goodbye to Woohyun.

“Woah! I think you got better!” Dongwoo praised Maeri.

Maeri “rebooted” and laughed. “Well, I couldn’t really get any worse.” Then she walked over to sit down on the couch.

Woohyun pushed Sunggyu into the middle and handed him a microphone. “We’re next,” he stated.

“This should be good! Both of you can sing _very_ well,” Dongwoo commented as he sat down next to Maeri. Both of them were on the edges of their seats in anticipation.

Sunggyu looked over to Woohyun and asked, “You sing?”

Woohyun smiled as he punched in a number into the machine; he had the number committed to memory because he sang it so often, _The Day the Sun Rises_. “Eung. Are you ready?” he asked Sunggyu. He nodded. Then Woohyun turned to his audience. “Are you ready?” he shouted.

“YEA!” Dongwoo and Maeri cheered. “WOOOOO!”

“Let’s go!” he shouted as the song began. He was singing his heart out, but he realized that he could only hear his voice. He turned to see that his duet partner was staring at him in a daze, with his mouth slightly opened in shock. At a break in the song, Woohyun covered his mike and whispered to Sunggyu, “Am I really that good?”

Sunggyu shook his head, snapping out of the daze.  “You’re not _that_ good,” he teased. “I’m better.” Then he joined in the song, with a voice that surprised Woohyun, causing him to temporarily forget that he was supposed to be singing. Then he joined in, harmonizing with his new partner.

Maeri was looking at the two, utterly speechless. She was always a big fan of Woohyun’s voice; it being the main reason she would agree to going to noraebang. His voice was strong and smooth, like dark chocolate. But Sunggyu’s voice was a bit more abrasive, especially in comparison to Woohyun’s comforting voice, but it was just as alluring. The two of them together was like mixing an acid and a base. They complimented each other, naturally.

“Woah! They’re good together.” Dongwoo said in awe, voicing Maeri’s thoughts.

Once the song ended, Woohyun turned to Sunggyu and said with a big smile, “Gyu, I think we found our song.” And he patted his new duet partner on the back.

Sunggyu nodded. “Yea, we weren’t half-bad.”

Dongwoo laughed, “Don’t sell yourself short. That was amazing!” Then he pulled Maeri up from her chair, spilling a little bit of her drink. “But I think it’s time that you guys do _your_ song.”

Woohyun pulled Maeri over to his side and pushed Sunggyu down next to Dongwoo. “Sunggyu, you’re in for a treat. Be prepared for the best show you’ll ever see.”

Maeri giggled as she picked up a microphone. “Are you sure that we want to subject him to this? It might scare him off.”

Sunggyu leaned near Dongwoo and whispered, “What’s going on?”

Dongwoo laughed in anticipation for what was about to happen. “They’ve been singing this song every time we’ve gone out for noraebang for as long as I’ve known them. And they got it down! There’s ad-libs and a dance. Even a lift!”

“Woohyun lifts Maeri?” Sunggyu asked lifting his eyebrows.

“No she lifts him,” Dongwoo answered quickly. “You’ve never seen anything like it.”

Sunggyu glanced over to the couple. Maeri was stretching her limbs with a serious expression on her face, and Woohyun was helping her, making sure that she was loose. Maeri caught his glance and smiled. “Sunggyu, are you ready for this?”

“Can’t wait,” he responded happily.

Woohyun and Maeri then got into position, posing in such a way that they looked like reflections of each other. “Let’s do this!”


	6. "Our Song" (age 18)

Today was the worst day in Maeri’s entire life, and it was her 18th birthday. It wasn’t like anybody remembered, or if they did, it’s not like they recognized it. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t blame her parents, especially her mother. It’s not like her mother planned on going into labor, forcing Maeri to spend one of her big mile-stone birthdays trapped in the hospital waiting room. The baby wasn’t even born yet, and it was already ruining her life. And to make matters worse, there was still a strong possibility that they would share the same birthday. The baby was taking her parents away, her time away (she knew that she would end up babysitting that thing), and now her birthday. Why did her parents decide to have a baby in their forties? Wasn’t she enough? _Stupid baby._

“Maeri-yah!” a woman’s voice called to her. Maeri stood up from her seat and saw Woohyun’s mother coming straight towards her, her husband following closely behind. “We came as soon as we heard,” she said, bringing Maeri into a hug.

“Ahjumma! Ahjussi!” Maeri greeted them with a hug. “You didn’t have to come.” _Even Woohyun didn’t. That jerk…_ Currently, her best friend was spending her birthday with his girlfriend, Jiyoung. Maeri swore that Jiyoung planned to celebrate their 1 year anniversary a week early, purposefully ruining her birthday. And Woohyun, being the stereotypical male, thought nothing of it. _And he says that he’s a romanticist. But I guess I’m not his girlfriend so…_

“Don’t say that. We’re practically family,” his father said as he sat down in one of the chairs.

Woohyun’s mother rubbed the back of Maeri’s neck tenderly, “We couldn’t stand the thought of you being alone here, especially on your birthday.” _Well, at least someone remembered._

“Thank you,” Maeri said quietly. “It means a lot to me.” The Nams were always so sweet to her. Mrs. Nam had taken her in as a pseudo-daughter (she had always wanted one, but was only able to give birth to sons) long ago. They would go on shopping trips together along with her own mother, watch chick flicks, and discuss celebrity gossip (also the neighborhood rumors). Mrs. Nam, as far as Maeri was concerned, was her aunt, and Mr. Nam was her uncle. When he said that they were practically family, it was true (they even spent holidays together).

“How long have you waited?” his father asked.

Maeri glanced at the clock and puffed her cheeks in thought. “Um, about 2 hours,” she answered.         

“Did you eat yet?” he asked. Before Maeri could open her mouth, her stomach answered for her. He chuckled, “I’ll take that as a no. I’ll see what I can rustle up for you.” Then he stood up, before Maeri could protest, and began his search for food.

His wife turned to Maeri. “Have they thought about what they would name the baby?” she asked.

Maeri winced. Her parents wanted to strengthen their ties with the Nams, including the same character in the baby’s name that was in their children’s, so they would appear to be actual brothers. “Jonghyun,” she muttered.

Mrs. Nam squealed in delight, “That’s perfect! I am so excited!” She took Maeri’s hands. “Aren’t you excited?”

Maeri gritted her teeth and smiled like a wolf bearing his teeth. “Estatic,” she answered sarcastically. The older woman laughed, knowing that Maeri was feeling a little resentful.

Then a little smiled appeared on her face. “Maeri, maybe this will cheer you up,” she said, nodding towards the door. Maeri doubted it, but she indulged her aunt and looked in that direction. She was right, the sight did warm her heart immediately.

“Hyun-ah!” Maeri called out as she saw her best friend running up to her. He was panting and slightly sweaty; he must’ve ran from wherever he was, which by his appearance (dressed in jeans and a nice button-down under his puffy coat) must’ve been his date. Maeri was dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?” she sputtered.

Woohyun hit her on the shoulder. “Yah!” he yelled, still slightly out of breath. “Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday, idiot?” He unbuttoned one of the top buttons of his shirt; he felt like it was suffocating him.

Maeri looked down at her lap. “I didn’t want to ruin your date,” she mumbled, not being able to look him in the eye. “What about Jiyoung?” she asked quietly.

“We broke up,” he plainly stated. Maeri immediately lifted her head and stared at him curiously. “Don’t look at me like that. I know that you aren’t surprised. She was a bitch.” Then he remembered that his mom was sitting next to Maeri, glaring at her son for using foul language. “Sorry, mom,” he apologized.

His mom was thoroughly entertained watching this interaction. An amused smirk appeared on her face. “Woohyun, why don’t you take Maeri out for her birthday?” she suggested as she pulled out money and handed it to her son. “Your father and I will keep you posted about the baby and the Yoos.”

“But…what about ahjussi?” Maeri asked, not forgetting the mission that he had taken up earlier.

Mrs. Nam laughed. “Don’t worry about him. I’ll take care of it,” she answered. “Now shoo! Go have fun!”

Woohyun saw Maeri hesitating and sighed. He pulled her out of her chair by the arm and began to drag her out of the waiting room. “Thanks Mom! We’ll have a blast.” Then he forced Maeri into a bow. “Now say thank you to my mother,” he commanded.

“Thank you,” Maeri said in a daze and was led away by her friend.

After they left the building, Woohyun began to make a plan. “First order of business, have you had any seaweed soup yet?”

Maeri kicked the ground with her feet. “Nope, my mom was asleep when I left this morning, and when I came home from school…Boom! Labor pains,” she answered.

“Alright! Then let’s get you some soup,” he stated, dragging her to the nearest convenience store. They bought a couple packages of soup, drinks, and ice cream. Then they sat down outside of the store at a table, combating the cold January air. “Happy birthday!” he wished as they dug into their impromptu meal.

“Some birthday,” she muttered, stuffing her face, eating her feelings.

Woohyun knew why she was depressed; it didn’t take an expert to figure it out. In a few hours, she was about to have a baby brother, turning the life she knew and was used to upside down. Maeri sometimes didn’t take change too well; she accept it grudgingly. Also he knew that he had contributed to her current, depressed state. He cursed himself for forgetting her birthday, especially for spending it with the girl whom Maeri hates the most on the planet. Woohyun knew that Jiyoung could be conniving, but moving their anniversary a week early just to ruin Maeri’s day was the last straw in their relationship. Maeri meant more to him than that pretty girl. Jiyoung didn’t know her place in Woohyun’s heart. He also hated being manipulated like that. He immediately broke up with Jiyoung after his parents had called him, reminding him of Maeri’s birthday.

Even though the birthday had sucked so far, the day was not yet over. Woohyun was determined to make it a good one. “Maeri,” he called out. She looked up at him with a spoon hanging out of her mouth. “Your mom is having a baby. Do you know what that means?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“My life is over,” she responded, playing with her soup.

“Nope!” Woohyun cutely shook his head. “9 months ago, your parents did _it_ ,” he joked.

“Ew!” Maeri gagged, losing her appetite.

“What happened 9 months ago anyway?” Woohyun asked. He began to count back with his fingers. “April?” he concluded.

Maeri wrinkled her face in thought. “Your parents took us on that camping trip. I remember them saying that my parents needed…some time…to themselves,” she said, and reality slowly hit her like a falling meteor. They both immediately stopped eating and looked at each other wordlessly for a few moments. Maeri pointed her spoon at him. “THIS IS ALL YOUR PARENTS FAULT! THEY HELPED MINE TO…AUGH!” she yelled, burying her head in her arms.

“Woah! I can’t believe it,” Woohyun muttered, still dumbfounded. Then his eyes widened, having come upon a new and maybe more terrifying realization. “Wait, do you think that when your dad took us to that soccer tournament last weekend, my parents…” he ended with a gulp.

“Well, if you get a baby brother in 9 months, we’ll know for sure,” Maeri said dryly.

Woohyun shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe that our parents help each other out like that,” he whined.

“They’re a little too involved in each other’s lives. It’s too weird.”

Woohyun began to pick up the food wrappers. “Let’s go! I need to forget about this conversation NOW!” he suggested.

“Yea, but what do you suggest?” she asked. She looked at Woohyun who gave her a shy smile. “Seriously? Noraebang again?!”

Woohyun nudged her. “Come on. It’ll be fun!”

“Yea, but it’s my birthday. Shouldn’t we be doing what I want to do?” she remarked, helping Woohyun to clean up the table.

Woohyun pouted. “Yea, but I just broke up with my first girlfriend,” he argued. Maeri rolled her eyes. They were actually fighting over who was the most pitiable right now. Woohyun knew how to convince her. He gave her really sad eyes and rubbed his chest. “Maeri…my heart…it hurts so much,” he whined.

“Fine! You big baby!” Maeri gave in, fighting a smile. “But you have to sing whatever I want,” she demanded as they walked over to the closest noraebang place.

Woohyun nodded in agreement. “Requests? Call!”

Once they reached their destination and settled in their booth. Woohyun grabbed the microphone and turned towards Maeri who was sitting down on the couch. “Hello everyone! And welcome to Total Request Woohyun! I’m your host, Nam…Woo…Hyun! Make some noise!” he shouted in his best announcer voice.

“WOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Maeri cheered from her seat, pumping her fist in the air.

“Now, what’s the first song of the evening?” he asked curiously. Maeri took up the controller and inputted a mysterious number. Woohyun waited for a few seconds, waiting for the first song to start. He could recognize it within the first few notes. “Aigoo! This one?” he joked.

Maeri shrugged and smiled shyly. “It is my birthday, and no one has sang it to me yet.”

Woohyun put a hand over his heart. “Then let me be the first,” he said before kneeling in front of her and sang: “Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, dear Maeri. Happy Birthday to you!” Maeri happily applauded at the end of his song. A genuine smile finally broke out onto her face. It made Woohyun happy to see it. Then he grabbed the controller from her and begged, “Let me pick the next song.”

Maeri frowned. “What about our deal?”

Woohyun smiled cheekily. “Yea, but this song always reminds me of you. Let’s sing it together,” he said handing the other microphone to his friend.

Maeri raised her eyebrows curiously and pointed to herself. “Me? There’s a song that reminds you of me?” she asked. She reluctantly got up from the couch, clutching the microphone.

“Every time I hear it,” Woohyun replied honestly as he inputted the song into the system.

Maeri perked her ears, waiting patiently for the song to play. Once she recognized it, she began laughing. “Seriously? A Chance Encounter?!” she asked skeptically. Woohyun must be crazy.

Woohyun pretended to be hurt. “You didn’t feel like this when we first met? Was it just me?” he asked, his lip quivering.

Maeri scoffed, “You’re silly.” He could see that she was trying hard not to smile. “I thought you were a chipmunk back then, storing nuts in your chubby cheeks.”

“You love my cheeks!” Woohyun retorted. “They make me look adorable!” Maeri just laughed in response, but he had a point. Then he walked over and stood next to her. “Let’s make this our song,” he said with a smile before singing. “And promise not to sing it with anybody else.”

Maeri giggled. She knew that he was saying this to make her feel better, and it was working. “Okay,” she agreed. “I wouldn’t want to sing it with anyone else anyway,” she said, returning his greasy words with some of her own.

From that noraebang trip onwards, every time they went out, they would sing this song together. Their routine becoming more and more regular and complicated as the years wore on, and it became famous among their group of friends. Both of them also kept their other promise, refusing to sing it with anybody else (and there were some people who tried to force them, but they didn’t budge). And every time they heard the song elsewhere, it would automatically brought a smile to their faces, because it was attached to such fun and sweet memories. It was their favorite song.

Also Maeri fell in love with Jonghyun the moment she laid eyes on her baby brother (who happened to be born a few minutes after midnight, giving both of them their own birthday). She never hated babysitting him or helping out her mother in raising him. Even Woohyun took part, assuming the role of an older brother effortlessly (in fact sometimes Maeri was jealous of how good he was at being an older sibling. Jonghyun gravitated towards him more than her). Despite the significant age gap between the three of them, they grew close, making sure to be there for each other in their moments of need. Maeri and Woohyun both witnessed most of the mile-stones in Jonghyun’s life: birthdays, physical and mechanical developments, first day of school, first crushes, etc. They were family.


	7. "First Kiss" (age 30)

 

Woohyun’s job didn’t exactly challenge his mental faculties; it didn’t take much brain power to manage a corporate twitter account. He started to grow bored with it, and so he took up a bad habit. He began to read books while on the job, all from various genres. It began with comic books during his lunch breaks, but he even started to grow bored with those. He then turned to the classics and even non-fiction works, even a book about everyday physics. It figured; the moment Woohyun left school, he wanted to learn. Now he had just finished a book about cognition and the psychology behind dreams, which wasn’t as interesting as he thought it would be. There were a lot of stats involved. Maeri would’ve liked it. He needed to read something a bit lighter, which lead him to the crime section of the local library. He needed a thrill, some excitement to liven up his dull work day. Lately the only “thrill” he’s gotten at work was Sungyeol and his anecdotes about his wife’s ongoing pregnancy (but it was more like horror stories than thiller). It wasn’t enough.

“What was his name again?” Woohyun muttered under his breath as he touched the spines of the books on the shelves. He had read of a bestselling crime series online, but he already forgotten who wrote it. _It’s  S…something, which only narrows it do to…this entire shelf_.

“Are you looking for something?” a soft voice asked, coming from his side. He turned his head and was face-to-face with a woman around his own age, smiling sweetly, awaiting a response from him.

“Uh yea,” he started. “Do you know of that recent bestseller? His name begins with an S, but after that…I’m lost,” he admitted with a chuckle.

The woman put a finger to her lips and pouted in thought for a few seconds. “I think,” she said, scrunching her nose. “This is it,” grabbing a book from off the shelf. She handed it over to Woohyun with both hands.

Woohyun inspected the back for a few seconds. Then he looked up at her with an inquisitive expression. “Are you sure this is the first one? And not this one?” he asked, pulling down another book by the same author.

Her eyes widened for a second, but then returned their smiling state. She quickly grabbed the book that Woohyun had just pulled down from his hands. “This isn’t it,” she said emphatically. “This,” she said, showing Woohyun the cover of the book for a split second before bringing it to her lap. “This is the prequel. It doesn’t make any sense, unless you read the rest of the series.”

Although she was smiling brightly, the woman seemed flustered and was acting very suspiciously. Woohyun raised his eyebrow. “Are you sure?” he asked skeptically.

“100%,” she said, nodding emphatically. “I should know. I read the entire series, except for this one.”

“Then how do you know I won’t get it unless I read the others?” Woohyun inquired with a chuckle. The woman began to avoid his gaze.

“Aaah…I heard it from a friend,” she answered sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck with her free hand. “Anyway, I’m going to check this book out. Have a nice day,” she bid him as she quickly shuffled out of the aisle.

Woohyun watched the scurrying woman with a curious smile on his face. _She’s…peculiar_. He then turned his attention to the description of the book on its back cover. “The sequel to the bestselling…” he read out loud. “Wait, the sequel?!” He frantically began to search the shelves for the first book in the series, but it wasn’t there. In fact, the only book that was missing from the series was the one the woman had taken away. He could put the two and two together. “Yah!” Woohyun shouted after her. He looked around the shelves, but she was nowhere to be found. “Aish!” he cursed out loud. “That woman tricked me. No wonder why she was acting so weird,” he muttered under his breath.

He put the sequel back on the shelf and walked over to the check-out desk. If he couldn’t get the book, the least he could do (to make his trip to the library worth it) was to get on the waiting list for it, and patiently wait for the book-stealer to finish it. Hopefully she read as fast as she could run. Woohyun still couldn’t find her anywhere, and he only let her out of his sight for a few seconds.

He reached the desk, and no one was there. _Great, nothing’s going my way_. He rang the bell on the desk a few times, impatiently.   _Where is this lady? Or man. Librarians can be men too. I’m an equal librarian-opportunist._

“Just a moment please,” he heard a slightly familiar voice call from the back room. _No, it can’t be_. But it was. Woohyun’s book-stealer emerged from the room and approached the desk, her eyes fixated on the said book. Woohyun snorted. The sudden noise caused the librarian to snap her head up, staring face to face with Woohyun once again. Her jaw dropped, and she grew pale. He’d caught up with her.

He smiled widely. “I got you,” he said.  Then he began to reach over the desk for the book in her hand. “I’ll just take this, and be on my way.” But the librarian hid the book away from him behind her back. She looked at him with eyes challenging him to “take it if you dare.”

“I already checked this out! It’s mine!” she defended adamantly. “I waited a month to read this book. A whole month! And when it was finally returned, stupid Yoomi put it back on the shelves. I told her several times to set it aside for me, but she said that she couldn’t show me preferential treatment, or something.” Then she realized that she was ranting. Woohyun was watching her slightly confused, but mostly amused. She smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, but I just had to have it.”

“Doesn’t it go against your librarian code of ethics to steal books from your patrons?” Woohyun joked, resting his forearms on the desk as he leaned on it.

“I didn’t start my shift yet sooo…” she said, taking a step closer.

Woohyun laughed. “You’re possibly the worst librarian ever,” he joked.

She put her hands on her hips and huffed. “I have a life besides this job. What do you always act like an…” she looked him up and down, analyzing him. “like an accountant?”

“I look like an accountant?!” Woohyun asked, pouting.

The librarian shrugged. “I don’t know. It was just a guess,” she muttered, avoiding his gaze again. “So ummm…I guess I can tell you when I’m finished with it, if you give me your information. I mean, your library card,” she clarified.

“But I thought you weren’t supposed to show preferential treatment?” he asked.

She looked up at him again. “Like you said, I’m a bad librarian,” she said with a wink.

Woohyun knew that she probably didn’t mean for it to sound so dirty, but he couldn’t stop his mind from wandering down that perverted path of naughty librarians. He was about to say something in response, but he could hear someone clearing their throat behind him. He turned around and was confronted with a long line of patrons, impatiently waiting to check out their books. Woohyun gave them an apologetic look, and then turned back to the librarian, handing her his card. “Yea, that would be great.”

She took his card and swiped it. As she handed it back she said, “Here you go! Hope to see you soon!”

Woohyun smiled. “That depends on how fast you can read.” Then he looked down at her nametag on her shirt. “Hani-ssi, have a good night!” He knocked on the desk before he left her, who was left with several grumpy patrons to deal with.

* * *

 

“Noona, how were you and Woohyun able to move in so quickly into that apartment?” Sungjong asked as he was helping Maeri to organize the items in the back room. They were getting ready for an auction happening the next week.

“Isn’t that a little personal?” Maeri asked, counting the number of portraits, making sure one hadn’t gone mysteriously missing.

“Don’t I have 10 questions left?” he retorted, leaning on one of the several tables.

Maeri lost count of the portraits. “Uh…you remember. I was kind of hoping that you would’ve forgotten,” she replied with a nervous laugh. She then sighed and answered,  “Our parents had it ready for us whenever we got engaged. They even furnished it and everything.”

Sungjong put a finger to his lips and nodded, “Hmmm. That explains the weird  decor.”

 _Right, he had commented about that at the party, then after that…what happened to him_? Maeri wrinkled her nose. She faced the boy and asked, “By the way, what happened to you at our party? You completely disappeared!”

Sungjong stood up straight and crossed his arms, frowning. “ Sora-ssi caught up to me and dragged me to get drinks with her and some of your other friends. They were…interesting,” he said while shaking his head, wanting to forget that night. Maeri let out another peal of nervous laughter. She knew how bad her friends could get, especially Sora, especially around younger, attractive men. _They are going to be cougars, I swear_.  She was about to apologize, but he caught her off, “But Hoya-hyung got roped into it too, so it wasn’t that bad.”

“Hoya-hyung?” she asked raising an eyebrow. She vaguely remembered that she had introduced the both of them, but they hadn’t said anything besides polite introductions.

Sungjong nodded, finally smiling again. “Yea, we got pretty close. Did you know that his real name isn’t Hoya? It’s Howon,” he stated that fun fact and turned to Maeri, who shook her head with her mouth slightly open. _How does this kid know more about my friends than I do? Well, I guess technically Hoya is Woohyun’s friend, but friend by association_? Sungjong shook his head in disappointment and patted Maeri on her shoulder. “Seriously, Noona, do you even know your own friends?” he asked sympathetically. Then an idea jumped into his head, and he suddenly clapped his hands. “Oh, that reminds me. I saw Sunggyu-hyung at your party.”

“Sunggyu-hyung?” Maeri asked skeptically.  “Did you make friends with everybody?”

Sungjong smiled more brightly and put a hand to his chest. “I’m a very friendly person, Noona,” he declared. Then, a crease formed between his eyebrows, and his eyes were lost in confusion.  “But about Sunggyu-hyung, why was he there?”

“He’s Dongwoo’s new roommate, who was Woohyun’s old roommate, who is now my fiancée. So I guess that makes him….” Maeri began, but she didn’t know quite how to finish. Sunggyu was no longer her client, and he was a friend of a friend.  Is there even a word for that? “My new friend?” she concluded with a shrug.

Sungjong pursed his lips in thought. “Hm…interesting,” he spoke out loud.

“What do you mean?” she scoffed.

“I wasn’t the only one making new friends,” he plainly stated.

“What does _that_ mean?”

“Nothing, just stating a fact.”

Maeri flipped her hair dramatically and said in her best vocal imitation of Sungjong, “I’m a very friendly person, Sungjong.”  She then put up 8 fingers.  “8 questions left,” she told him before taking her leave.

“Yah!” Sungjong called after her in a huff, stamping his foot. “Where did the other one go? You asked me more questions. I demand a recount!”

* * *

 

Maeri and Woohyun finally understood why people were reluctant to go on couple dates with Sungyeol and Soyeon. They were a little…intense. Both of them were so eager to get acquainted with their new friends that their friendly double date was starting to resemble an inquisition. Maeri was regretting wearing a long-sleeved dress. Their constant questioning was starting to make her sweat, like a criminal in the hot seat. Even Woohyun, who normally kept cool in situations like this, started move around nervously. He was drumming on Maeri’s thigh under the table, who was patiently enduring his nervous jitters.

“What are you guys going to eat?”  “How did you guys meet?” Sungyeol and his wife asked at the same exact time.

“Oh, I like her question better. Answer hers,” Sungyeol demanded, pointing at Soyeon.

Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck. “What was the question again?” he asked. He didn’t hear it because although Sungyeol had a naturally loud voice, Soyeon could match him, decibel for decibel.

“How did you guys meet?” Soyeon happily repeated. Her and her husband were looking the other couple expectantly.

“The first day of high school,” Maeri answered quickly.

“Aw! Come on,” Sungyeol scoffed.  “There’s got to be more to it than that.”

“Well,” Woohyun began, casting a quick glance towards Maeri before proceeding.  “We lived right across the street from each other. We stepped outside at the same time. I noticed that we were wearing uniforms from the same school so I suggested that we walk to school together.”

Soyeon clapped her hands then put them up to her cheeks. “It sounds like a scene from a movie,” she cooed.

“And it would’ve been,” Woohyun said with a laugh, pointing at his fiancée.  “If Maeri hadn’t broken out into a sprint right after I asked her.”

Maeri hung her head and explained herself, “I thought that he was pervert or something. My dad had just given me a big speech that morning about the dangers of teenage boys because it was my first time at a co-ed school.”

“I was wearing the same uniform!” Woohyun exclaimed.

Maeri faced him and shouted right back, “I wasn’t thinking straight! I’m not good in the morning.”

“Yea, I know that now,” he responded, putting his arms around her shoulders. Maeri leaned into him a little. Woohyun then mouthed to his coworker, “bad morning breath.” Sungyeol broke out into a peal of laughter, and Maeri hit Woohyun in the thigh and shot him a nasty glare. Woohyun yelped a little, knowing full well that he probably deserved it.

Sungyeol watched them, being thoroughly entertained by their relationship. “So did you guys date in high school?” he asked.

“No,” Woohyun and Maeri were both too quick to respond.

Soyeon raised her eyebrow, confused. “Why not?”

“I’m not sure,” Woohyun sputtered. There was more than one reason, he was sure, but he didn’t exactly know how to express them.

The vague answer seemed to satisfy the inquisitive couple, for only a second. “So when did you start dating?” Sungyeol asked.

“Uh, recently,” Woohyun replied. _Like two weeks ago_.

“When’s the wedding date?” Soyeon asked, directing her question towards Maeri, whose lips were tightly closed. She had decided to let Woohyun take care of the answers, but Soyeon wouldn’t let her off that easily.

“We haven’t set it yet,” Maeri answered sheepishly.

“Are we invited?” Sungyeol asked desperately. All of the sudden doubt had entered within his mind.

 _Keep this up and you might not be_. “Of course,” Woohyun answered with the most genuine smile he could muster to mask his inner thoughts.

“How many kids do you want?“ Sungyeol’s new attack had taken them both by surprise. At that time, Maeri had taken a sip from her glass of wine, and she inhaled it down her wind-pipe when she heard the question. She immediately started choking.

Woohyun patted her on the back gently and waved to the married couple, telling them that she was okay. “Uh…” he tried to answer, but he had no words. He really wanted kids, three of them, but he hadn’t even approached the subject with Maeri. All that he knew about Maeri and babies was that she thought that newborns looked like aliens. She had said that about his niece, who Woohyun thought looked like a ray of sunshine in human form.

Soyeon quickly came to their rescue. “Hubby, they probably haven’t thought about it yet. They just got engaged,” she defended them, patting Sungyeol gently on his chest.  Then she turned towards Woohyun and Maeri, who recently stopped coughing. “So do you know what you’re going to name your kids?” _That question is even worse_ , Woohyun thought.

“What?” Maeri muttered. Woohyun slowly took the wine glass from her hand. If they were going to keep asking questions like this, he didn’t want Maeri to go into another coughing fit. After all, they were in a fancy restaurant. Coughing up a lung was frowned upon in places like this.

“Sorry,” Soyeon immediately apologized with a laugh. “We have babies on the brain, and having a hard time finding a good name,” she finished, staring lovingly at Sungyeol, who nodded in agreement.

“How about Woohyun?” Woohyun proposed with a chuckle.

“He’s funny. Isn’t he funny, Maeri?” Sungyeol said, laughing along with his friend.

“Uh, yea,” Maeri answered, smiling at her friend.

Soyeon opened her mouth, about to ask another question, but a waiter had approached their table. “Are you ready to order, sir?” the waiter asked Sungyeol, who was the closest to him.

“Haha I haven’t even looked at the menu yet. Can you give us a minute?” he asked with a nervous laugh. The waiter acquiesced and left to serve another table. Sungyeol then turned to the rest.  “Sorry about all the questions,” he apologized. “We should probably pick out what we should eat now.” They all then turned their attention to their menus. Silence finally overtaking them, there was an end to the questioning…for only a moment.

“Maeri, what’s your favorite dish?” Soyeon asked, peeking over the menu.

* * *

 

As the evening wore on, miraculously Sungyeol and Soyeon did seem to exhaust their bank of questions. Maeri felt like she could finally breathe, and Woohyun was just happy that he could finally speak now. In fact, he had just finished telling them a story about him and Maeri from their college years as the four of them were walking back to their cars.

“I’ve never seen her so drunk before,” he told them, trying hard to hold back laughter. The rest of the group had succumbed to it, while he was telling the funny story. “She even threw up on the cop’s shoes! She’s lucky that I was there to talk the cops out of pressing charges.”

“And to drag me back home,” Maeri admitted, hanging her head in embarrassment.

Woohyun nudged her playfully. “You were much lighter back then,” he joked.

 Maeri shoved him back and glared. “You were a lot nicer back then,” she retorted.

“Hehe you guys already fight like an old married couple,” Sungyeol giggled. Woohyun had to agree.

“It’s getting cold,” Soyeon suddenly confessed. She shivered and pulled her coat closer to her body.

“Come closer. I’ll warm you up,” Sungyeol said quickly pulling her into a hug and rubbed his hands up and down her arms, warming her. Maeri watched them with a smile. Sungyeol then turned his attention from him wife and stared curiously at the other couple. “Woohyun, why are you standing so far away from Maeri? You guys are a couple, right?” he joked.

Woohyun hadn’t even noticed, but he and Maeri were standing 5 feet apart from each other, with both of their hands in their pockets, both shivering in the crisp night air. Woohyun laughed. Some habits died hard. He had a hard time remembering that he could increase his level of skinship with her beyond the level of friends. He suddenly pulled her into a hug too, mimicking what Sungyeol had just done. “Of course we are. See!” Woohyun argued as he pecked his fiancée on  her cold cheek, earning a quiet gasp from her.

Soyeon giggled at the sight. “Hehe, Maeri, you’re blushing,” she said poking her new friend in the cheek.

“I’m just still not used to him acting like this,” Maeri confessed, burying her cheeks in Woohyun’s coat.

“Aigoo! You guys act like you haven’t kissed yet,” Sungyeol teased. “You have kissed, right? On the lips?” He ended pursing his lips and making kissing noises. Soyeon hit him playfully, giggling.

Woohyun and Maeri exchanged nervous glances. “Of course! What kind of weirdos get engaged without kissing first?” Woohyun argued, his voice being louder than usual. Then he gently shook Maeri. “Maeri’s just shy,” he said, placing the blame on her.

Maeri excepted it willingly. “Yep, very shy,” she admitted.

“You guys are cute. I’m so glad that we’re friends,” Soyeon happily said, yawning at the end. She looked at her husband with sleepy eyes, her head slowly resting on his shoulders. “Yeol, what time…is…it?” she spoke before she closed her eyes.

“Aaaaaaaand she’s out again,” Sungyeol laughed as his wife started to snore quietly. Then he turned to the couple, “I guess it’s time to go. Woohyun, do you mind helping? She’s a little heavier now.”

* * *

 

Later that evening, Maeri and Woohyun were laying in their bed. Maeri was flipping through a tabloid, wearing her old glasses from high school, which were round with thick purple frames. They made her look like a violet owl. Woohyun was watching the news, barely paying attention. His mind was occupied with another thought. He looked over to his fiancée and tugged the sleeve of her pajama top. “Honey, give me a kiss!” he cutely begged. Maeri quickly pecked him on the cheek, smiled, and returned back to her magazine. Woohyun pouted. It wasn’t what he wanted. “No! A real one on the lips,” he clarified, pointing to his pouting lips.

Maeri put her magazine on the nightstand and stared at Woohyun curiously. “Is this because of what Sungyeol said?” she asked. Woohyun turned away, slightly embarrassed that she could analyze what was bothering him. She laughed. “We have kissed before. We weren’t lying.”

“Yea, but that was in high school,” Woohyun muttered. It was weird that they hadn’t actually kissed yet since they’ve been engaged (besides the occasional pecks on the cheek). It was like he kept forgetting the steps in between, but speeding towards the end goal. What was wrong with them?

“I guess it has been a while,” she admitted, chewing on her lower lip.

“Do you not want to kiss me now?” Woohyun pouted, trying to goad her. “Do you not find me attractive anymore?”

Maeri faced him, her glasses slipped down the bridge of her nose. She smiled coyly. “You’re hot stuff, Sweetie, and you know it,” she said, ending with a growl.

“Prove it,” Woohyun dared, moving closer to her.

“Okay,” she quietly responded. Maeri slowly started to lean in, closing the distance between their lips, centimeter by centimeter. Woohyun kept his eyes opened, curious if his shy friend would actually see it to the end. She closed her eyes tightly and puckered her lips slightly, her glasses almost completely fallen off her nose. She looked so…nerdy, like a geek in a drama before the stereotypical makeover. Woohyun couldn’t help but to snort at the sight, sending a puff of air from his nose to assault Maeri’s face. She immediately pulled back and grimaced.

“You have toothpaste right there,” Woohyun used as an excuse for his actions. He wiped the crusty toothpaste from the corner of her mouth. He was lucky that Maeri was so messy. She probably wouldn’t have liked hearing that he thought she looked unattractive.

“You do too!” Maeri yelled, shoving him away and wiping the toothpaste remnants herself. Woohyun looked at his reflection in the mirror by their bed. She was right; he had some crusty white foam on his chin. He quickly and roughly rubbed it off. After it was gone, he decided to give it another try, and he leaned closer to Maeri who was still frowning. Once she noticed what he was doing, she pushed him away again. “Nope! Moment’s ruined. No kiss for you!” she exclaimed gruffly, sinking down into the pillows, turning away from him.

“But Hoooooooney,” he began to whine, tugging on her shirt again. To his surprise, Maeri quickly faced him and pecked him on the cheek.

“Good night, Sweetie,” she said before taking off her ugly glasses and laying back down. Woohyun smile sadly. The pecks would have to be good enough for now. He shouldn’t force it. He returned her peck with one on her cheek and went to sleep.

* * *

 

“Dongwoo-yah!” Woohyun yelled as he was knocking loudly on his old apartment door. Then the door opened, revealing a confused looking Sunggyu. “Oh, it’s you, Gyu,” Woohyun answered, barely being able to hide his disappointment.  “Is Dongwoo home?”

“Hey! Is that Woohyun?” Dongwoo asked before appearing by his roommate’s side.

Sunggyu turned to him. “Did you invite him?” he asked quietly.

“Yea, he’s going to watch the game with us. I told you about it earlier,” Dongwoo explained. “Come on in,” he commanded, pulling Woohyun by the arm and dragging him into the apartment.

“I must’ve forgotten,” Sunggyu muttered under his breath as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Woohyun looked around his old apartment. It had already started to look different and unfamiliar, and he hadn’t be absent from it for more than a month. Sunggyu already was making his mark. Woohyun felt his heart drop a little. It used to be his home. Then something displayed prominently in the middle of the room caught his eye. “Whoa! It’s Lil Woohyun! You’re still alive!” he exclaimed as he ran towards the parting fish he gave Dongwoo. He tapped the glass bowl, watching the fish swim speeding around.

“Of course he is. We take good care of him,” Dongwoo responded with a chuckle.

“We?” he asked, turning to the roommates. “Sunggyu does too?”

“Yea, I feed him sometimes,” Sunggyu answered, coming over to the fish bowl and waved to the red fish. “And he’s kinda cute.”

Woohyun looked at him and smiled. “Of course, he takes after me,” he said sarcastically, but Sunggyu looked at him in such a way that Woohyun didn’t know if he caught his facetiousness.

“Do you want something to drink?” Dongwoo called as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Yes,” Woohyun and Sunggyu answered at the same time. They looked at each other and let out an awkard laugh.

“What would you like?” Dongwoo asked, digging through the fridge.

“Beer please,” the two spoke in unison again. This time they exchanged a glare.

“Hahaha. You guys are funny,” Dongwoo said, trying to alleviate the tension. He walked back with three beers; he handed two of them to his friends. “Here you go.”

“Thank you,” they said together for the third time as they grabbed for the beers.

“Stop it!” Sunggyu demanded as he took the beer and walked towards the couch.

“I’m not doing it on purpose,” Woohyun muttered, narrowing his eyes on Sunggyu’s back. He imagined his head spontaneously exploding.

“Come on, guys. Let’s sit down,” Dongwoo said with a nervous laugh. He knew that the two were awkward together, but he didn’t know it was this bad. “The game’s about to start,” he mentioned, ushering Woohyun over towards the couch.

It took them a while for the three of them to organize their seating arrangement. Dongwoo had sat on one end of the couch, and Woohyun and Sunggyu were both wanting to sit by him, refusing to sit next to each other. Dongwoo finally noticed this awkward struggle and scooted towards the middle of the couch, putting the matter to rest. Then a overwhelming silence overcame the three of them.

“This is nice,” Dongwoo said, breaking the heavy silence. “Us three. Hanging out. My old best friend and my new best friend,” he ended, putting his arms around the both of them.

“Old best friend?” Sunggyu asked, with hurt eyes.

“You know what I mean,” Dongwoo began, moving his hands around excessively because he was growing nervous. “Like childhood friend. Gyu, you’re still my best friend.”

“Then what about me?” Woohyun argued, his eyes looking even sadder.

“You too, Woohyun,” Dongwoo responded comfortingly. Then he broke into a nervous fit of giggles. “Guys, you can have more than one best friend. Stop acting weird.”

“I’m not acting weird,” the both of them shouted in unison.

Sunggyu hung his head and scoffed, “Maybe we are.”

“Yea,” Woohyun admitted, biting his lower lip. Then the three of them all started to drink from their beers at the same time, and they wordlessly watched the game.

After a half an hour, Woohyun couldn’t take it anymore. He becoming aggravated with one player on the team, and the player just messed up again for the umpteenth time. “Oh come on! He should passed it off when he had the chance,” Woohyun yelled at the screen, slamming his empty beer can on the table.

“Yea number 6 was wide open down the line,” Sunggyu commented pointing at the open player while they were watching the replay.

“The guy is selfish,” Woohyun scoffed. “He only cares about his stats.”

Sunggyu laughed. “Which even aren’t that good,” he complained.

“Yea, the day he wins MVP is the day my mom wins Miss Korea,” Woohyun joked. Dongwoo leaned back and happily watched these two friendly interact. He hadn’t seen them this in sync (well besides the whole speaking like they had telepathy) since they sang at noraebang. Maybe this little friendship threesome he made would actually work out like he wanted. Woohyun then gestured towards Dongwoo, still facing Sunggyu. “Dongwoo actually likes this player,” he stated.

Sunggyu  turned to his childhood friend. “What? You’re blind!” he exclaimed. Great. Now the both of them were teaming up against Dongwoo. Maybe his plan was working too well.

“What? I think that he has a lot of potential,” Dongwoo defended himself, being a fan of the player since his rookie year. Sunggyu was about to speak, but his voice was cut off by a loud knock at the door. “Who is it?” Dongwoo asked, not remembering he had invited anyone else.

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu admitted as he got up from the couch. He walked over to the door and looked through the spyhole. “Oh it’s Hoya! I forgot that I invited him,” he said to the other two. Then he opened the door and welcomed in the newcomer. “Come on in!”

“Oh, Woohyun-ah!” Hoya exclaimed, not expecting his work-out buddy to be there. Woohyun himself didn’t expect to see him either. “What are you doing here?”

“I used to live here with Dongwoo,” Woohyun responded, pointing to his old roommate who waved to Hoya. “How do you know Sunggyu?”

“We teach at the same school,” Hoya answered, gesturing between Sunggyu and himself.

Sunggyu walked up by his side. “Hoya, have you met Dongwoo?”

“No. I don’t think we have,” Hoya replied, and the two exchanged pleasantries.

“Aish! That punk is doing it again, hogging the ball,” Woohyun interrupted, pointing at the screen. The player had just missed another goal.

“What a jerk!” Sunggyu scoffed.

“Come on, the shot almost went in,” Dongwoo tried to defend his favorite player.

“And he had a better angle on the goal that the other guy,” Hoya said, agreeing with Dongwoo.

Dongwoo faced the newcomer and smiled. “Hoya, I like you. You can sit next to me,” he said pushing Woohyun off of the couch, making room for his new friend. Hoya gladly sat next to him. Dongwoo then glared at the other two. “You guys can sit together. Haters,” he demanded.

“Rude,” Woohyun mumbled as he sat next to Sunggyu.

“Yea no kidding,” the other responded.

* * *

 

“Maeri-yah!” Sora yelled as she ran into the back room. Maeri was busy doing inventory. Debah had put her in charge while she tried to establish another shop in the next town over. Sora was practically panting in excitement. “Stop whatever you’re doing, and come check this guy out!” she demanded.

Maeri rolled her eyes, not even bothering to look up from the computer screen to see her coworker slobbering over yet another customer. “Sora, I already told you. I’m engaged. And you’re married,” she said, trying to brush her off.

“I’m separated! Practically divorced,” Sora defended herself, stamping her foot for emphasis. “Plus it doesn’t matter. Even women happily married for 50 years can still appreciate a very, very attractive man.” She walked over to Maeri who still hadn’t given into her goading. Sora shook her friend by her shoulder. “Gah! You can stop for like two seconds. It’s not like we’re all going to die, if you don’t finish inventory right away.”

“I might die,” Maeri joked, shrugging Sora off.

“So dramatic,” her friend responded, crossing her arms.

Then Sungjong joined them in the backroom, sticking his head through the threshold. “Noona! The hot guy is looking for you,” he stated. _Did he just call the guy 'hot'_? Maeri wrinkled her nose, wondering how much of that was Sora’s corrupting influence.

“Me?” Sora asked expectantly.

Sungjong shook his head and pointed to the woman behind the computer. “No, Maeri noona. She’s the manager. He’s looking for the person in charge,” he explained.

Maeri finally gave in and stood up, peeling herself away from the computer. “Well, okay. Now I guess that I have no choice but to check out the hot guy,” she said with a smirk. Then she left the backroom to deal with the rumored to be attractive costumer.

Sora turned to Sungjong. “Did he say anything about me?” she asked.

“Yea, he asked if the drooling lady was okay,” he answered before following Maeri.

Sora immediately wiped her mouth and inspected her hand. “I’m not drooling,” she stated showing Sungjong’s back her dry hand. Then a smile crept on her face, having found the silver lining. “Wait. He asked if I was okay?!” she happily exclaimed.

Maeri walked up to the desk, where the “hot” guy’s back was leaning against it. _Well, he’s tall. I’ll give him tha_ t. She put on her professional smile (which involved a lot less gums and teeth than her regular one) and spoke, “Hello. How can I help you today, sir?”  Then the man turned around, and Maeri felt as if she was transported back into high school. “Myung…Myungsoo?!” she exclaimed in shock.

“Maeri! Yoo Maeri! You work here?” Myungsoo replied, his mouth hanging slightly wider also being surprised. _Man, he looks the exact same. No…he looks better. Damn! He just looks good_. Maeri and Myungsoo had gone to high school together (with Woohyun too). She had a massive crush on him in their last year.

“Yep.” Maeri laughed nervously. Then she tried to regain her composure and not to revert into her silly, hormonal teenage self. “So what brings you here?” she asked coolly.

Myungsoo awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “I saw online that you had a vintage camera  going up for auction. I was wondering if I could see it beforehand,” he said, ending with a laugh.

“I’ll go check,” Sora volunteered, eager to interact with Myungsoo again. She disappeared into the back room. Then Maeri noticed Sungjong watching, while trying to hide in the doorway. Once he caught Maeri staring at him, he quickly slinked around the corner. _He’s acting weird_.

Maeri shook her head at her two bizarre coworkers and turned her attention back to her old classmate. “So you’re interested in a camera?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered enthusiastically. “I’m a photographer.”

Maeri laughed. “Actually, I’m not surprised. You always had a camera glued to your hand during high school,” she explained. Back in school, he was on the yearbook and newspaper staff, being the official photographer for each. In fact, that was how they met. He was taking pictures of her soccer team. Eventually she gathered the courage to talk to him, and they became friends. _Well, whatever we were_.

“I did?” he asked with a nervous chuckle. “I just like it,” he admitted hanging his head to hide his embarrassment.

Maeri propped her elbows on the desk and rested her head in her hands. “It’s good to do what you like. I’m happy for you,” she confessed.

Myungsoo rested his arms on the desk too and leaned in closer. It reminded Maeri of their interactions in high school. “What about you? Do you like doing this?” he asked.

“Hm,” she thought for a while, looking down at the desk. “Yea,” she finally admitted. “It’s a little dusty and lame, but I enjoy it.”

Myungsoo scrunched his nose. “Lame? Who thinks it’s lame?” he asked.

“Woohyun,” she answered, rolling her eyes. He always teased her and her love for “rotting” furniture. “Do you remember him?”

“Nam Woohyun?” he asked. Maeri nodded. He smiled broadly. “Of course. You…you guys still talk?”

Maeri put up her hand, showing off her ring. “Well, we’re engaged,” she admitted.

Myungsoo unexpectedly grabbed her hand and inspected her ring, looking at it with wide eyes. Then he realized that he was acting weird and let go of it. “Oh, congrats,” he said with a sniff, trying to be cool.

“What?” Maeri asked with a laugh. She had never been able to understand his 4-D personality. Him staring at her ring was just par for the Myungsoo course.

“It shouldn’t be surprising given how close you two were, but it’s just that you guys seemed more like siblings in high school,” he admitted. “I never thought you two would get together. I didn’t think he was your type.”

“Really?” Maeri said raising her eyebrows.  “Who’s my type then?”

He looked around awkwardly. “…Me.” He responded with a laugh.

“Hehe yea,” Maeri giggled looking down at the desk again. “I forgot about that.” _Lies! But just play it cool. Don’t let him see you sweat. Don’t be that teenage girl again!_

Myungsoo looked down at the desk too. “Yea, high school...” he mused, his voice drifting off into the open air.

“I found it!” Sora proclaimed, rushing back with the camera in her hands. “Here it is, Myungsoo-ssi. Is there anything else I can do for you?” she looked at him expectantly, batting her eyes. _Way to play it cool. Wait. Did she unbutton her blouse? Sora!_

“No, I’m good,” he answered, paying attention to only the camera, carefully inspecting it from every angle. “When’s the auction?”

“Next week,” Sora quickly answered, cutting off Maeri. Maeri glared at her coworker for being desperate. Sora shrugged, not having any shame.

Myungsoo handed back the camera to Maeri and smiled. “Okay. Then, I’ll see this and you at the auction,” he said and turned around to leave. But then, he remembered something and turned back around. He pulled something from his coat pocket and handed it to Maeri. “Here’s my card, if you need a photographer for your wedding. Congrats again. Tell Woohyun that I said hello,” he added and waved goodbye.

“Will do! Bye bye!” Maeri called after him as he left. _Man, that was a trip down memory lane_ , she said as she inspected the card, which Sora immediately tore from her hands and ran off into the back room.

But before she could chase after her (she could really use a photographer for the engagement photos at least), Sungjong came out of his hiding spot and looked at her curiously. “Noona, you know him?” he asked.

“Yea,” Maeri admitted, maneuvering herself around him, walking into the backroom. “I had the biggest crush on him in high school. He was almost my first kiss,” she admitted. Then she quickly bit her lip, letting more slip out then she intended.

“Almost?”

“Yea, I don’t want to talk about it,” Maeri mumbled as she scurried off, leaving Sungjong in the shop. Sungjong pondered whether if this issue was worth pursuing, he had a so few questions left and way more things he wanted to ask.

“NOONA! I’m cashing in my 8th question!”

* * *

 

That evening, Maeri and Woohyun fell into their normal nighttime routine. This time she was flipping through a fashion magazine as Woohyun was in the middle of a group chat on his cell phone. The news was still on,  but it was more just background noise. “I saw Myungsoo at work today,” she admitted as she turned the page.

“Really?” Woohyun responded, typing words into the phone and chuckling at his friend’s response.

“Uh huh. He’s a photographer now,” she spoke again.

“Really?” Woohyun answered, his attention still focused intently on the phone.

Maeri smirked and put down her magazine. “He looks just about the same. Still really ridiculously good-looking,” she said needling him.

“Really?” Same answer.

She turned to face him and crossed her arms. “He’s waaaay more handsome than you,” she joked, sticking out her tongue.

“Really?” Woohyun said, typing once again into the cellphone.

Maeri frowned. “I’m thinking about chopping off all of my hair and dying it green,” she said playing with the ends of her hair. She looked at Woohyun who was still texting, but there was a slight smile breaking on his face. He maybe was listening to her, but pretending not too.

“Really?”

Maeri had to resort to extreme measures. “I’m going to take a shower. Do you want to join?” she asked, pulling her collar to expose a bit of her skin.

“YES!” Woohyun exclaimed throwing down his phone and practically leaping from his spot.

Maeri threw her pillow at Woohyun who was now standing. “Now you listen, you pervert!” she yelled.

He dodged the pillow effortlessly and popped back up. “Sooo…does the offer still stand?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Maeri grabbed his pillow and pummeled him. “NO!” she screamed.

“Yah!” he yelled back, smiling. He grabbed the pillow that she threw at him and jumped on the bed. He started to hit her back, standing while she was laying down in the fetal position. When he stopped for a moment. She quickly stood up and renewed her attack with her fluffy weapon. But Woohyun would not back down, easily parrying some of her blows and returning with some of his own. This pillow fight continued for a while. Both of them using the mattress’s springs to add force to their attacks. The mattress groaned under their jumping. The only sounds that could be heard was their grunting and the mattress squeaking.

Then they heard a strong thumping coming from below them. Their neighbors had had enough of their mischief and noise. “Yah! Yah! YAH! Keep it down….freakin’ newlyweds,” their neighbor below bellowed.

Maeri and Woohyun immediately stopped and collapsed onto the bed. Maeri looked at her friend with wide eyes. “Did he think that we were…” she started but wasn’t able to finish. Their neighbor had come to exact wrong conclusion, but who would expect an innocent pillow fight from a couple their age?

Woohyun looked at her and burst into laughter. A laughter that was so overwhelming that he gripped his sides and began to toss and turn onto the bed. Maeri joined him, rolling around, clutching the pillow to her chest. Eventually the laughter died down as they both developed cramps in their sides. Both were struggling to regain their breath. Woohyun looked over and saw Maeri laying there, slightly panting, smiling. Even in those glasses, those really hideous glasses, she looked pretty. He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. She brushed his cheek with her hand, reciprocating his kiss. After a few second, Woohyun pulled away, and both of them smiled sweetly at each other. That was until Woohyun smacked her in the face with his pillow again.


	8. "First Kiss" (age 18)

Woohyun was approaching Maeri, who was sitting on top of a picnic table outside of their school. He plopped down right next to her, but she didn’t notice that he’d suddenly showed up at her side. Her eyes were fixated on something in front of her, bringing a large smile to her face. Curious, Woohyun followed the path of her eyes. When he saw where it lead, he immediately frowned. It was him. Kim Myungsoo, Woohyun’s friend, and the new bane of his existence. Myungsoo was nice, and they got along just fine. But recently, Woohyun started liking him less and less each day. All because Maeri liked him, and that didn’t make Woohyun feel good. It might be him being protective of his best friend or it might be jealousy. Whatever that feeling was, he hated it.

“Yah! You’re drooling,” he chided as he closed his best friend’s slightly opened mouth.

“Really?” she asked, finally turning to Woohyun. She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket. “Thanks. That would’ve been embarrassing,” she said with a smile.

“You still like that kid,” he stated with a pout.

“Mmmhm,” she quickly and energetically responded. Her eyes started to glaze over again, looking back at Myungsoo, who was fooling around with some of their other friends. She couldn’t help but to gush about her new crush, “He’s perfect. He’s smart, nice, athletic, absurdly good-looking…”

“Okay. I get it,” he broke her off with a gruff voice. Maeri smile apologetically to him. “So what are you going to do about Friday?” he asked, referring to their group date (they were going to go to an amusement park with their friends: Myungsoo, Hyunsuk, Shinah, and Yerim). He was sure that Maeri and the rest of the girls came up with some goofy plan to ignite some spark between Myungsoo and Maeri. Woohyun wasn’t stupid. He knew the entire reason why they were going to the park in the first place was in high hopes that the two would get together. Woohyun cursed himself for getting roped in. He only wanted to try out the new ride there.

Maeri nodded and answered, “Yerim, Shinah, and I have a plan. You guys will be riding on the Power Tower. And because I’m afraid of heights, Myungsoo and I will wait or ride some other ride.”

“What if he doesn’t?” Woohyun asked, hoping to find a flaw in her plan so that she would abandon it.

Maeri shook her head, disagreeing. “He’s a nice guy. He’ll stay behind, if I ask,” she explained. Then she bit her lip and lowered her head, blushing. “Besides, I think he likes me.”

Woohyun looked back and forth between the two skeptically. “How do you know?”

“Well,” she started nudging Woohyun. “Shinah told me that Inyoung told her that Hyunsuk  told Seungho that Myungsoo wants to ask me out.”

His eyebrows creased in confusion. He couldn’t  follow that line even if he tried. “…That doesn’t even make since,” he muttered under his breath.

“ANYWAY,” she said. “when we’re alone, I’m going to tell him that I like him.” Woohyun turned to her with his eyes wide open. His shy Maeri would never be able to be the first to confess. Why this plan? Did she really know that he liked her back? “And…” she said before she broke off. Then she fell into a fit of nervous giggles, staring at her lap.

“And what?” he prodded her.

“Yerim was told by,” she began then wrinkled her nose before continuing, “…I can’t remember that Myungsoo was planning on confessing on Friday, so we might…” she didn’t finish, but buried her face in her hands instead.

Woohyun knew what she meant. “Might what? Kiss?” Maeri nodded a little bit, her hands still glued to her face. “ Is…is he going to be your first?” he sputtered.

Maeri lifted her head and fanned herself a little before turning to Woohyun. “It’s going to be magical,” she responded, indirectly answering his question.  That was it. She wanted that boy to be her first. Woohyun looked at Myungsoo, who was completely oblivious to this entire conversation because he was too busy wrestling Hyunsuk to the ground. His eyes narrowed.

He looked back at Maeri who was nervously biting her thumb. He pushed her playfully. “Aigoo! It might not even happen. What if Yerim or Hyunsuk were wrong?” he said, still trying to dissuade her.

“I don’t think they were,” she answered back confidently. Then she jumped off of the table and practically skipped over to her crush, calling him, “Myungsoo-yah!”

It was settled. Woohyun had to come up with a little plan of his own to combat the silly girls’.

* * *

 

It was Friday, and their group date was in full force. All of them were having a good time, well except for the fact that they had to couple off on the rides, leaving Woohyun stuck with Yerim, who screamed like a banshee. He didn’t know how much more of her ear-splitting howls his eardrums could take. Then, there was the whole entire Myungsoo-Maeri thing. So even though he was having fun, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his head, that something was wrong.

Maeri, on the other hand, was having the time of her life. She had ridden every single ride with her crush so far, and things were looking promising. He was nice, sweet, laughed at all of her stupid jokes (well, he was just laughing at everything). She had started liking Myungsoo just before Woohyun had broken up with Jiyoung (thinking that she and Woohyun would never happen), and Myungsoo just might like her back. He could be her first boyfriend, her first love, her first kiss. She was so happy and excited, until they approached the Power Tower, and then her stomach grew heavy.

“I…I don’t think I can do this,” she stuttered as they drew closer to the line for it.

“Really?” Myungsoo asked staring at the ride and then Maeri’s worried face. “If you don’t want to ride, I can wait with you,” he offered.

“Maeri-yah!” Woohyun called at her, being a few steps ahead at the ride’s entrance.  “Don’t be a baby. Ride with us,” he goaded her.

“I’m not a baby,” Maeri retorted. “I just have an irrational fear of heights.” She began to walk away from the ride, and Myungsoo was reluctantly following her.

Woohyun ran in front of her, cutting her off from her escape. Then a mischievous glint dashed across his eyes. She could tell what he was thinking, and it sent shivers down her spine. “Maeri, I…” he began with a smirk.

Maeri shot him murderous glares. “Don’t do it,” she warned with a low growl.

“I dare you,” he finished with a triumphant smile.

“Damn you, Nam Woohyun,” Maeri cursed as she stomped off to the ride’s entrance. Woohyun happily followed her, skipping.

Myungsoo and the others were dumbfounded. He looked at them and rubbed the back of his neck. “What just happened?” he asked. Hyunsuk, Yerim, and Shinah just shrugged assuming that it was just another weird Woohyun-Maeri inside joke, or something.

When they were getting strapped into the ride (Maeri was sitting in between Woohyun and Myungsoo), Woohyun looked over anxiously at Maeri, whose eyes were glued to her lap as her chest was heaving up and down. He patted her on the head, feeling bad for having put her in this position. She wasn’t playing damsel in distress. She had a genuine and massive fear of heights. “You have to get over your fear at some point in time,” he offered some consolation.

“But did it have to be today?” she whispered, breathily. She threw back her head and shut her eyes tightly, kicking her legs in frustration.

Myungsoo looked over at her with concern and grabbed her hand. “Don’t worry, Maeri. I’m right here,” he said comfortingly, giving her hand a squeeze. Woohyun looked at them biting his lower lip. His brilliant plan might’ve backfired. This might bring the two even closer.  

Then the ride suddenly shot up into the sky, and Maeri’s heartbeat skyrocketed with it. She screamed bloody murder, giving Yerim a run for her money. She tightened her grip on Myungsoo’s hand, practically cutting on his circulation, and she suddenly grabbed and dug her nails into Woohyun’s upper arm, drawing blood.  But then, the screaming suddenly stopped and her grip slackened. Woohyun looked over at Maeri and laughed. She had completely passed out, her head leaning against his shoulder. Then his eyes met with Myungsoo, whose mouth was agape in shock. Woohyun just smiled and shrugged in response.

When Maeri finally came to, she was laying on a bench, with Myungsoo and a park attendant looming over her. She tried to jolt herself up quickly, trying to end this embarrassing situation as quickly as she could, but Myungsoo held her down, looking at her as if she was about to break. “Maeri, are you okay?” he asked.

“Yea. I’m fine,” she responded, slowing getting up. She waved to the park attendant, showing that she was fine, just completely humiliated. She looked down at her pants in case the worse had happened. _Nope, didn’t pee my pants. That’s one silver lining_.

“Do you want to go on anymore rides or…” Myungsoo asked, helping her to her feet.

Maeri hung her head and shook it. “I think I’m done for the day. I don’t think my heart can take another.”

“Hey!” Hyunsuk called after them. “Do you guys want to go on the big rollercoaster?” Yerim and Shinah were beckoning them to come join them. Woohyun stood there with his hands in his pockets.

Myungsoo bit his lip, thinking for a moment, before answering. “No, I’ll stay behind with Maeri,” he responded.

Maeri saw his hesitation. He wanted to go, and she was standing in the way of him having fun. She didn’t want to be a party pooper. “Do you want to ride on it?” she asked, fiddling with her thumbs.

“But…” Myungsoo started, glancing at the others who were starting to leave. He didn’t deny it.

“Just go,” Maeri urged him and pushed him towards the others. “I’m a big girl. Have fun.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, as he back-pedaled in the direction of the others.

“Go!” Maeri nicely commanded more forcibly. “I’m going to play some games and eat some food.”

“Win me a prize. Fighting!” he cheered before running off with the others.

“Fighting!” Maeri said with a sad smile, watching her friends leave her behind.

* * *

 

After they finished with the roller coaster and a few other rides, the gang met up with Maeri and finished the day at the park playing carnival games and eating mountains of junk food. While waiting for them, Maeri had won Myungsoo a large, white teddy bear, which was so large that he had to carry it around on his back. And as they walked back from the park, people departed from the group one by one, until it was just Maeri, Myungsoo, and Woohyun left. And Woohyun didn’t pick up Maeri’s oh-so-subtle hints to buzz off and leave them alone (but she understood why; it was late, and he didn’t have the time to make a long detour).

“Well, this is my street,” Myungsoo said stopping in his tracks. “See you later, Woohyun.” Woohyun nodded coolly and waved. “And bye Maeri! Thank you for this! I wish I could’ve seen you win it.”

“It was pretty epic. I’ll see you in school. Bye!” Maeri responded as she waved the boy goodbye. She watched him walk up the street until he became a small speck. Maeri then turned to Woohyun, who smiled brightly at her, chewing on a fluff of cotton candy; she grimaced and shuffled down the street.

Woohyun followed after her. “Why didn’t you win the teddy bear for me?” he whined.

Maeri stopped and faced him. “I think you know why,” she growled. “Gimme this,” she commanded stealing the cotton candy from his hand. She proceeded stomping up the street and stuffing the candy in her mouth.

Woohyun frowned and run up to her side. “You should be thanking me,” he argued. “I gave you a better opportunity for your romance to flourish. It was like a movie. You fainted. He revived you. And he was willing to spend the rest of the day with you, but you turned him down.” He successfully placed the blame onto her.

“I realized that it wasn’t right for me to deny him from having fun just to hang out with me,” Maeri stated sadly, picking at the pink fluff on a stick. “He really wanted to go on the rides.”

“Aigoo!” Woohyun cooed as he ruffled her hair. “Our little Maeri is so mature.”

Maeri suddenly stopped in her tracks and threw her head back. “Waaaaaah!” she whined, shaking her shoulders up and down. The crying might’ve been fake, but the sadness was real. Maeri was disappointed. She knew that the day would not turn out the way she planned, but she didn’t think  it would end up like this.

Woohyun stepped in front of her and fought to keep her shoulders still. “Did you really want to be kissed that badly?” he chided her.

“Shut up,” Maeri said, shrugging him off.

He bit his lip, considering if he should make his next move. “I could probably help you with that,” he stated barely looking at her.

Maeri looked at him with a confused expression. “Really? How?”

Woohyun quickly pressed his lips against hers. It was for less than a second, but long enough for it to count. Then while she was in a daze, Woohyun giggled, stole back his cotton candy, and walked away.

“This…this wasn’t what I wanted,” Maeri muttered, bringing a finger to her lips. She finally snapped out of her daze and searched for the perpetrator who was just a few feet in front of her. “Yah! Nam Woohyun! I’m going to kill you! “ she yelled as she stomped after him.

“I’m so scared,” Woohyun joked, eating his sugared snack. But he started to walk a bit faster, feeling Maeri catching up to him.

Then after getting close enough, she grabbed him by his collar and hissed in his ear, “You’re so dead. No one’s going to be able to identify your body once I’m done with you.”

Woohyun wiggled out of her grip. “Okay, now I’m scared,” he admitted and broke off into a sprint. Maeri ran after him like a lioness after her prey. “It was just a joke!” he pleaded.

But it wasn't a joke to her. It was her treasure first kiss, and Woohyun had stolen it from her. Although Maeri's anger had eventually subsided, she did never forgive him for it. But then again, maybe it was better that way then the way she had originally planned. Myungsoo meant nothing to her now, but Woohyun and her had a lasting relationship, which only grew stronger over the years. Plus, isn't the unexpected always better than the expected? Life isn't interesting if everything went according to plan.


	9. "The Cutest Babies" (age 18)

“No, Woohyun, stop it. You’re not allowed to touch the Bunsen burner anymore,” Maeri warned as she slapped her friend’s hand away from the gas valve. “You lost that privilege during the last experiment.”

Woohyun sat back down on his stool and rested his head on their lab table, pouting. “It was an accident,” he muttered under his breath.

Maeri rolled her eyes as she measured out the chemicals as accurately as she could before pouring it into a ceramic dish. “Yea one that almost burnt down the lab and cost me an A,” she chided, shooting him a menacing glare.

Woohyun just grumbled as he played with a scale on the table, letting his friend basically take control.  _She won’t ever forget that. All I want to do is have fun with the experiment. Leave it to Maeri to take the fun out of playing with fire_ , he complained to himself and glared at his friend, who was too concentrated on making sure the Bunsen burner was at the right temperature. They were in their joint Chemistry class, performing an experiment about moles and energy. The best friends didn’t actually pick each other as their lab partners. Sure they liked each other, but Maeri was ruthless when it came to her grades. She would’ve dumped him and picked up one of the other smart kids in a heartbeat. And Woohyun would probably be in the back with Hyunsuk, setting the lab aflame.  _At least we wouldn’t have to do the stupid lab reports then. No lab. No problems_.

Their chemistry teacher was the one who assigned them together for reasons unknown to them. The middle-aged woman hadn’t even known that they were best friends, or that they even knew each other. She had assigned the whole class in mixed pairs in a seemingly random pattern. If you based it on Maeri and Woohyun alone, you would assume that the teacher did it based on skill level, pairing the top students with the bottom. But the two dumbest kids in class were paired up with each other. It was a recipe for chaos. Weird smells and smoke was already wafting from their corner of the lab.

Woohyun sniffed the air curiously and turned around, watching the bottom girl and guy in the class struggle to put out a miniature fire. The teacher was already there with a fire extinguisher in hand. She sighed as she put out the flame; it had become a routine procedure for her, even when they were just experimenting with baking soda and vinegar.

“Yah Yoo Maeri! Even Sunhwa lets Changsun use the Bunsen burner,” he said pointing to the panicking couple in the back of the classroom.

Maeri stopped what she was doing and turned to him. “Yea, and look how well that’s going,” she commented.

Woohyun stood up. “I’m bored. At least let me pour something!” he demanded grabbing a vial from her hands. He had grabbed it too roughly, and some of its contents had spilt on his hands, right onto his unprotected skin. Suddenly his mind flashed back to the safety lecture that their teacher had given them just moments before, saying that they were going to be using dangerous chemicals and to be careful.  _Dangerous chemicals…on my skin. Oh shit! This is bad_! “Yah! Maeri what is this?! I think it’s burning my skin.”

Maeri’s eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. “Hurry! Put your hand under water!” she spoke with an urgent voice. “NOW!”

“Where? Where?” Woohyun freaked out, spinning around in circles.

“There’s a sink over there!” she shouted, pointing to a sink next to him.

Woohyun sprinted over, turned on the faucet, and emerged his hand under the gushing stream. He looked at Maeri, completely worried. “Maeri! I don’t think it’s working. I still feel it burning,” his voice shaking with worry.

“Pft!” Maeri snorted before she crumpled into laughter. She was laughing so loud and so maniacally that the whole class was staring, even the teacher, who was now walking towards them.

“Maeri-yah! Is this any way to act when your friend is losing his arm?!” Woohyun hissed, shooting quick glances at their fast approaching teacher.

The laughter finally stopped, and Maeri walked over, turned off the faucet, and started to dry Woohyun’s hand with a towel. “It was water mixed with Sodium Chloride,” she admitted, finishing drying his hand.  She looked up at Woohyun, who was still lost in confusion. “Salt water, you big baby.”

“Yah!” he yelled. “You knew?”

She shrugged as she returned back to her (technically their) experiment. “You need to learn to be more careful,” she chided. Woohyun clenched his fist. If they weren’t in class, he would totally have her in a headlock by now.

“Is everything okay?” their teacher asked when she finally reached their lab table. “Did you spill anything?” she asked, staring directly at Woohyun.

“Everything’s fine, Seonsaengnim!” Maeri responded in a chipper voice. “Woohyun was just washing his hands.”

“Teacher’s pet,” Woohyun mumbled in a voice so low that no one could hear. He hated this side of her. It seemed so fake, yet so aggressive at the same time. And he was positive that she hated his laidback approach to school. She normally lectured him like his mother to study.  

“Good thinking, Woohyun-goon,” the teacher praised him, patting him on the back.  _Wait, did I just get praise for something_? He thought automatically perking up.  Then the teacher looked back and forth between the two curiously. “Do you two have any plans for the break?”

Maeri put down the beakers. “Um, besides soccer practice every day, I don’t,” she answered.

“And you?” the teacher asked Woohyun.

He nodded. “Yep, I have practice every day too. Why?”  
The teacher leaned in, jutting herself in between the two. “Do you guys want to know a secret? Why I paired everybody else like this?” she whispered. Woohyun and Maeri nodded enthusiastically. The teacher giggled before confessing, “I did it based on who would make the cutest babies. And you two, you guys will have the cutest in the class.” She pulled away from the dumbfounded students, whose cheeks were growing redder by the second. “Use your break wisely,” she advised with a wink, before she left for the next blundering lab table.

Maeri and Woohyun could not look at each other for the rest of class and made an unspoken pact to never mention this again. Teachers meddle too much sometimes in their students’ lives.


	10. "The Cutest Babies" (age 30)

Woohyun walked into the local library, wondering if that bad book-stealing librarian Hani had finished reading the book. Right as he entered the building, he heard someone call out, "SH! If you don't calm down, I won't be able to start." Curious, he followed the voice and saw Hani sitting in a rocking chair, surrounded by a gaggle of excited children, bustling about her, struggling to be the closest to her. Right next to her chair was a sign that read, "Children's Storytime. Today's reader: Miss Hani! :)" Woohyun smiled and decided to join the rest of the kids on the circle rug. He needed to talk to Hani anyway, so he might be entertained while he waited for her to finish. After he sat down, Hani made eye contact with Woohyun and cocked her head to the side. He just smiled and waved politely, telling her not to mind him.

Then he felt a tug on his sleeve; he turned to see a cute 4 year-old girl, who even though she was standing and Woohyun was sitting, still was not taller than him. "Ahjussi, are you here for storytime too? Aren't you too old?" she asked.

"Aigoo," Woohyun cooed as he ruffled her hair. "You caught me! And I was trying to blend in. I guess my disguise isn't very good, is it?" he asked the girl with sad eyes. The little girl nodded and laughed. "Do you think Hani-ssi will find me?" The girl nodded again, making herself look like a large bobble-head doll. "Why don't you help me hide from her?"

The girl threw her hands up into the air. "But how?" she asked with a tilt of her head.

Woohyun gently placed the girl on his lap and hid his head behind her tiny back. "If I hide behind you like this, she won't see me, right?" he asked as he kept poking his head out from cover of her back and back behind it. 

The little laughed, but then she gasped. "Hani-ssi is looking! Ahjussi, quick! Hide!" she whispered to Woohyun. He immediately obeyed her and ducked even lower, but he poked his head out slightly to the side, seeing Hani staring at him with an amused look on her face.

Then she clapped her hands, garnering the attention from the still noisy kids, and they clapped back. Woohyun assumed that it must be their signal to quiet down or that storytime was starting. He found himself clapping along as well. Then, Hani picked up a book from the ground and showed it to the group. "Today's story is _The Runaway Bunny_ ," she announced as she displayed the cover. Then she placed it in her lap. "Do you guys know what a bunny looks like?" she asked, cocking her head.

"Yea!" exclaimed a little boy as he shot up his hand in the air and stood up on his knees. "They look like this," he said and demonstrated, putting his hands on the top of his head like long ears and wiggling his nose.

"Okay everyone, did you see Younghwan-goon? Let's all do it together. Like this!" she excitedly and gently command the children (plus Woohyun) to do. She also turned her hands into long, floppy bunny ears on her head and scrunched her nose. Everyone followed her lead. After a few moments of bunny-acting, a look of confusion appeared on her face. "But what does a bunny sound like?" she pondered out loud. "Do you know?" she asked the group. All of the kids shook their heads or said "No!" Even Woohyun shrugged, not knowing the answer. Hani then smiled warmly. "I don't know either," she admitted, and the children laughed. "But they are quiet, right?"

"Yes!" the children sounded off in unison.

Hani picked up the book again and put her finger to her lips. "So let's all act like bunnies and be very very quiet as I read this book, okay?"

She was met with silence but also with several nods from the children already assuming their bunny roles. She cleared her throat and then read with a soft voice:

_Once there was a little bunny who wanted to run away._

_So he said to his mother, “I am running away.”_

_“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you._

_For you are my little bunny.”_

 

_“If you run after me,” said the little bunny,_

_“I will become a fish in a trout stream_

_and I will swim away from you.”_

 

_“If you become a fish in a trout stream,” said his mother,_

_“I will become a fisherman and I will fish for you.”_

 

_“If you become a fisherman,” said the little bunny,_

_“I will become a rock on the mountain, high above you.”_

 

_“If you become a rock on the mountain high above me,”_

_said his mother, “I will become a mountain climber,_

_and I will climb to where you are.”_

 

_“If you become a mountain climber,”_

_said the little bunny,_

_“I will be a crocus in a hidden garden.”_

 

_“If you become a crocus in a hidden garden,”_

_said his mother, “I will be a gardener. And I will find you.”_

 

_“If you are a gardener and find me,”_

_said the little bunny, “I will be a bird_

_and fly away from you.”_

 

_“If you become a bird and fly away from me,”_

_said his mother, “I will be a tree that you come home to.”_

 

_“If you become a tree,” said the little bunny,_

_“I will become a little sailboat,_

_and I will sail away from you.”_

 

_“If you become a sailboat and sail away from me,”_

_said his mother, “I will become the wind_

_and blow you where I want you to go.”_

 

_“If you become the wind and blow me,” said the little bunny,_

_“I will join a circus and fly away on a flying trapeze.”_

 

_“If you go flying on a flying trapeze,” said his mother,_

_“I will be a tightrope walker,_

_and I will walk across the air to you.”_

 

_“If you become a tightrope walker and walk across the air,”_

_said the bunny, “I will become a little boy_

_and run into a house.”_

 

_“If you become a little boy and run into a house,”_

_said the mother bunny, “I will become your mother_

_and catch you in my arms and hug you.”_

 

_“Shucks,” said the bunny, “I might just as well_

_stay where I am and be your little bunny.”_

 

_And so he did._

_“Have a carrot,” said the mother bunny.*_

After Hani was finished reading and put the book down, everyone clapped. "Alright little bunnies," she started. "Storytime's over. Go hop on over to your parents." And then children listened and hopped away like little bounding rabbits, except for the girl in Woohyun's lap who still took it as her mission to hide him.

Woohyun saw Hani get up from her chair and walk over in their direction. "Oh no! She found us! Run away!" he gasped. The little girl squealed, jumped off his lap, and ran away to find her parents. Woohyun chuckled watching the little girl toddle away and stood up slowly, facing Hani sheepishly. 

"Did you enjoy the story?" Hani asked.

Woohyun nodded. "It was cute. I've never heard it before."

"Not many people have. It's an old one," Hani explained, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ears. "My mom used to read it to me."

"Why did you always try to run away?" he joked.

Hani giggled. "NO! I was a good kid when I was little," she defended herself, placing her hands on her hips.

"So you're not good anymore?"

Hani rolled her eyes and walked back to the check-out desk. Woohyun followed her. "I'm not done with the book yet," she confessed, knowing full well why he was there. He frowned. "But I might be able to finish it tonight, if you want to stop by tomorrow," she said as she organized the books on her desks.

"Okay," Woohyun agreed and started to walk away, but was still facing her. "But don't runaway, or I'll hunt you down like that Mama bunny," he warned her while pointing at both of his eyes and then at her. Then turned around to leave.

"That doesn't sound creepy at all," Hani shouted after him sarcastically. "Besides, who's afraid of bunnies?" she mumbled to herself, smiling.

* * *

 

The next day, Woohyun and Maeri were visiting his brother, Boohyun, and his family in the next town over. It was the first time Woohyun had seen his brother since the engagement, and the first time Maeri had met his little niece, Haeun, who was still not even a year-old. Woohyun walked over to Maeri, who was sitting on the couch with his sister-in-law. She was intently watching the baby in its mother's arms with a slightly scared expression on her face. "Noona, why don't you let Maeri hold Haeun for awhile?" he suggested. Maeri shot him a "please don't" look.

His sister-in-law smiled. "That's a good idea. Haeun needs some bonding time with her future aunt. And I gotta pee," she said, ending with a baby voice staring at her daughter. She then carefully placed the baby in Maeri's lap, who suddenly went stiff. After seeing that Maeri had somewhat of a hold on her child, the mother scurried off to the bathroom. Maeri looked at the baby, completely at a loss for how to handle it. The last time she held a baby was when Jonghyun was born, and that was only a couple of times. Mostly she had just let him sleep in his crib.  _Maybe that's why he doesn't like me as much as Woohyun. Woohyun held him a lot more than I did. But is that just with puppies? Or does it hold true with humans too? They're both baby animals so.._.

"Maybe it would be easier if you hold her like this," Woohyun spoke, interrupting her thoughts. He adjusted Haeun in Maeri's arms until the infant was nestled in the crook of her neck.

"This is much better," Maeri admitted as she gently patted the baby. "Thank you." 

"She likes you," Woohyun stated watching Maeri who was trying to be as gentle as she could. It was as if she was dealing with a bomb that was about to explode.  _But I guess that it's better for her to be too cautious than not._

She looked over at his with her eyebrow raised. "How can you tell?" she asked.

"Well," he said, stroking his niece's head. "She's not crying."

Maeri smiled and bent her neck to look at the baby on her shoulder. "Huh? You like me, Haeun-ie? I like you too! You're the cutest baby I've ever seen, and you don't smell like poo...yet." She turned to Woohyun. "And when she does, I'm done. But maybe I'm better at this baby thing than I thought." Woohyun smiled, happy to see Maeri finally admitting that babies can be cute (and don't always look like aliens) and to see her act remotely motherly (and not like the argumentative five year-old she was). It was like he was catching a glimpse of the not-so-distant future, of them starting a family together. A cute, happy, little family. "She's just so little, and her head is soft. I could just crush it so easily," Maeri crooned as she stroked the poor baby's head. And just like that the cute moment was ruined.

"Okay, no more holding the baby for you," Woohyun said, worried that Maeri would hurt his cute niece. He quickly and gently ripped Haeun away from his fiancée. 

Maeri frowned. "It's not like I was going to," she mumbled.

Woohyun bounced Haeun in his lap. "Just to be safe," he said to Maeri with a wink. Then he looked back at his niece. "Besides, Haeun-ie misses her uncle. Yes, she does!" he ended in a baby-like voice. 

Maeri rolled her eyes and tapped him on the shoulder. "I'll let you two bond. I'm going to see what's up with Oppa," she said getting up from the couch and leaving the room to see Boohyun, who was cooking in the kitchen.

Right as she left, Woohyun's sister-in-law walked back into the room. "Oh! Where did Maeri go?" she asked as she sat next to him.

"Well, she said that she wanted to check up on hyung, but I really think she's just checking up on the food," Woohyun joked. At that, his sister-in-law started to chuckle. "Why? What's so funny, Noona?"

"Normally, the men go out and cook the meat and drink beer, and the women stay behind with the kids," she explained as she touched her daughter's nose. 

Woohyun chuckled until he fully registered what she had said, and his face fell. "Did you just call me the woman in our relationship?"

Meanwhile, Maeri was in the kitchen with a beer in one hand and carrot slices in the other. She watched Boohyun cook the beef as she popped the slices in her mouth. "So what's with you Nam boys and cooking?" she asked in between chews. "Woohyun does it all the time too."

Boohyun chuckled as he flipped the meat on the grill. "Well, for me, it's calming. It clears my mind because I have to concentrate on chopping or grilling so I can't really think of anything else. My brother does it because...well, you can't cook worth shit," he joked.

"OPPA!" Maeri exclaimed angrily and took a swig from her beer.

Boohyun waved his hands. "I was joking," he said gently. "But I have heard some stories..."

"I forget to take the plastic wrap off ONE TIME before putting food in the microwave, and he never lets me forget it," she responded in a huff.

"And if the microwave would just happen to break, would you still be able to cook?" he asked.

"Noooo," she reluctantly answered. She picked up a piece of beef off the grill with her chopsticks.

"And that's what makes you a bad cook," he explained. Then he slapped Maeri's hand away from grabbing another piece off the grill. "Stop eating all the food!"

"Sorry," she apologized with a sheepish smile, putting the chopsticks to her lips.

"I didn't even see you get those chopsticks," Boohyun muttered. After he looked at Maeri's embarrassed face, he sighed.

Maeri giggled nervously. "What? What's wrong, Oppa? I promise not to eat anything else," she lied as she stealthily grabbed a few more veggie slices while Boohyun's back was turned.

"I just can't believe that you two are getting married," he confessed as he put some of the cooked meat on a plate.

Maeri nudged him. "Why? Because we're growing up so fast?"

"Well that, and I never thought Woohyun saw you as a woman," he quickly said as he picked up the plate and carried it out of the kitchen.

Maeri digested his words (and the beef) for a few seconds before responding, "YAH! What does that make me? A guy?!"

* * *

 

“Oh, Honey, I forgot!” Woohyun exclaimed. He was driving himself and Maeri back from his brother’s home, after having eaten dinner there. “Can we stop by the library? I need to pick up a book before it closes.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Maeri said sleepily. Her belly was full of good food, which always has some sort of sleep-inducing effect on her. “Whatever you want,” she yawned.

Woohyun poked her in the cheek. “You’re turning into Soyeon,” he joked. Maeri just mumbled incoherently back at him. He pulled into a parking spot outside of the library. “You can stay in the car. I’ll be quick.” Once again, she let out a flow of babbles. _She’s like a baby herself_. “I love you too, Honey,” Woohyun said with a smile, randomly guessing at what she might’ve said.

After leaving his drowsy fiancée behind, Woohyun waltzed into the library and walked up to the check-out desk. “Um, hello,” he said greeting the elderly woman behind the desk. He had hoped Hani would’ve been there, knowing that she had put the book on reserve for him. He wasn’t prepared to explain the situation to this old lady. She looked like a stickler for the rules. “Uh, I…”

“Oh! It’s you!” Hani called to him as she emerged from around the corner. “I’ll take care of him,” she said to her coworker. The old lady slowly got up from her chair and hobbled away. After she was gone, Hani pulled the book from under the desk and handed it to Woohyun. “For you!”

“It’s about time,” Woohyun joked, taking the book from her. He then handed her is library card. “Thanks for breaking the rules for me.”

Hani put a finger to her lips. “Just don’t spread the word. I don’t do this for everybody,” she whispered. Then she took his card and swiped it. “Gosh! This is making me feel like some kind of drug-book-dealer,” she giggled.

“Yea, you’re the baddest librarian on the block,” Woohyun said, receiving his card back from  Hani.

“UNNIE!” a voice shouted from afar. All too loud for a library. Everybody immediately turned to the direction of the sound. It was Maeri, who recently woke up; her hair was disheveled from leaning against the car window. Maeri noticed that she disrupted everybody and bowed in apology as she shuffled up to the check-out desk. “Hani-unnie!  Is that you?”

Hani looked at the woman with wide-eyes until she finally recognized her. “Maeri, is that you?!” Maeri nodded enthusiastically.

Woohyun was thoroughly confused. “Do you two know each other?” he asked.

“Yea, and you probably do too,” Maeri explained. “We all went to high school together. Unnie was the captain of the soccer team.”

“He went to school with us?” Hani said, scrunching her face in confusion. Then she clapped her hands. “That’s why you look so familiar! You’re cheeks were so much chubbier back then, like a cute little bunny.”

Woohyun automatically put his hands to his cheeks. “Why do you guys keep saying that?” he mumbled.

The girls were ignoring his distress, being too busy catching up with each other. “So what have you been up to lately? Oh! How was London?” Maeri asked. She turned to Woohyun and explained, “Unnie went to college in England.”

“Really?!”

Hani bowed her head in embarrassment. “It’s nothing big. It was actually a town outside of London. But I learned a lot. I’m still barely fluent in English though,” she said. She wanted to change the subject. “What about you?”

“Woohyun and I are engaged!” Maeri happily announced, gesturing between Woohyun and herself.

“Oh…That’s great!” Hani  said with a smile on her face. “Congrats.”

“Thanks!” Maeri said. Then she pulled her cellphone out of her pocket. “Unnie! Give me your phone number, so we can catch up. I’m so glad that you’re back home.” She was practically jumping up and down, happy to see her old mentor again.

Hani smiled brightly and inputted her number into the phone. “Call me soon, okay?” she politely commanded, handing the cellphone back to its owner.

“Of course,” Maeri agreed. Then she turned to Woohyun, who was oddly silent this entire time. “We should get going, Sweetie. The library is closing soon.” They turned to leave, but they were abruptly stopped.

“HOLD ON!” Hani called after them. She ran around the check-out desk and up to the couple. “My bookmark! I left my bookmark in the book,” she said desperately.

Woohyun looked at the book in his hand curiously and handed it over to the frazzled librarian. “Ah…sure. Here you go.” _She must really like that bookmark,_ he thought, watching Hani carefully. She grabbed a small, rectangular card from the middle of the book and quickly put it in her pocket, so quick that Woohyun couldn’t see what was on it. Hani gave the book back to him with an embarrassed smile.  “Thank you. I guess we’ll see you later. Bye!” he waved.

“Bye Unnie!” Maeri happily waved as she walked back to the car, hand-in-hand with Woohyun. “I’ll call you soon.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Hani called out to them. She sighed after she saw them leave. She pulled out the card from her pocket and stared at it with a frown. “It was stupid anyways,” she mumbled as she threw the card with her phone number written on it into the trash can.

* * *

 

During her lunch break, Maeri was munching on a sandwich as she played with an app on her cellphone.  “It’s so cute!” she cooed, caressing the screen.

“What is?” Sungjong asked, popping out of nowhere. Maeri pushed the cellphone over to him, not being able to talk because her mouth was full. He studied the screen. It was a picture of a baby. “Whose is it?”

Maeri took a big gulp and then answered, “Mine and Woohyun’s.” Sungjong looked at her with his jaw unhinged. Maeri shoved him playfully. “It’s an app that shows what your future baby would look like.” Then she took the cellphone back from the boy and posed it in front of him. “All you have to do is take a picture. Smile!” Sungjong gave a huge smile, with v-signs by his eyes. “Cute! And put it with your potential partner. Aaaaaaaaaand…Ew!” Maeri exclaimed, grimacing.

Sungjong frowned. “Give me that, Noona,” he commanded taking the phone away from her. He glared at the screen. The baby that he was confronted with looked as if it came from a monster movie, with bushy eyebrows and menacing eyes. “No! This can’t be mine,” he whined.

Maeri took her phone back from the distressed boy. “Yea, word of advice: never have a baby with Sora,” she giggled.

“Ew! You made me have a virtual baby with her!” He shook his head in disappointment. “You’re perverted, Noona.”

Maeri glared at him. “You know, I do have the power to fire you,” she warned. But then her serious expression melted into a smile. She was just messing with Sungjong; however, sometimes she believed that he needed to be reminded that she was his superior. Yes, she did have an immature side, but he still needed to respect her.

“Noona, have you slept with Woohyun yet?” Sungjong asked, putting his head in his hands. _This kid has no respect at all._

Maeri choked on her sandwich. “WHAT?!”

Sungjong was not fazed by her shock. “Don’t blame me. You’re the one who gave me 20 free questions,” he said with a not-so-innocent smile. He saw that Maeri was still speechless, so he took the opportunity to explain himself. “Noona, you’re looking at pictures of babies that you and fiancée virtually made, so I can only assume…You do know how babies are made, right?” he asked raising his eyebrows.

“Of course I do!”she defended herself. Maeri felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and she started to grow hot and uncomfortable. She took the trash left over from her lunch and walked away. “You’re just jealous that my baby is cuter than yours,” she retorted before she left him.

Sungjong ran after her. “Noona! You still have to answer! I’m not letting this one go!”

* * *

 

That evening, Maeri was with Woohyun on the couch. They were watching a drama that the both of them had recently gotten into (it was some crazy supernatural-action-romantic-comedy, a complete amalgamation of every genre that ever existed, but it worked). She stared at Woohyun out of the corner of her eye.  He was laying down on the couch, with his legs resting over hers and a chip bowl resting on his belly. She was already used to Woohyun taking over the couch like that, but something was still bothering her. What Sungjong had said earlier to her was gnawing at her mind. It was stupid and idiotic, but she did actually forget how babies were made. Well, it wasn’t that she forgot, but she did not realize what she would have to do. What she would have to do with Woohyun.

“Sweetie?” she called to him during a commercial break.

“Mmmm,” he said, his mouth full of chips.

Maeri looked down at his feet on her lap. “Have you ever thought about us doing it?”

“Doing what?” he asked innocently.

Maeri turned to him. “You know…it,” she said making random gestures in the air, hoping that he would get the point.

He did. “Sex?” he asked with his eyes growing bigger by the second. “Why..why are you asking?” He was proceeding cautiously. He knew how some girls would put him through little “tests” like this, wanting to see how he would react. But he never expected it from Maeri. Was she actually curious? “What made you think about it? Why, am I turning you on right now?” he asked, chewing on a chip as seductively as someone could.

Maeri pushed his feet off her lap, causing him to almost slip off of the couch. “Ew! No! Stop it!”

Woohyun glared at her and waited a few seconds before putting his feet back on her lap, and she let him stay there. “Then why?”

“We’re getting married, right?” she clarified, staring at him. He nodded, curious to see where this was going. “Eventually, we’re going to want kids.”

“We’re going to have the cutest kids!” Woohyun interjected.

“I know, right?” Maeri quickly agreed. “But how do you think we’re going to get them?”

The chips that Woohyun was eating slowly fell out of his mouth, which was hanging wide open. Like Maeri, he never fully realized the implications of marrying Maeri, starting a family with her. “Oh right,” he said. Then the two of them sat there silently, watching a commercial about razors. After the commercial was over, Woohyun suddenly blurted out, “Do you want to try tomorrow?”

Maeri turned to him with her eyebrows raised. “What? _That_?!”

“You’re the one who brought it up first!” he pointed out. “Plus, I don’t know about you, but now I’m curious,” he finished, putting a few chips in his mouth. Then he noticed that Maeri was looking at him with her mouth wide open, so he put some chips in there.

Maeri was grateful that he did because chewing on the chips gave her the opportunity to think without having to immediately give him an answer. “So, we’re already engaged,” she thought out loud, still chewing. “This is what couples are supposed to do, right?” she asked. Woohyun nodded excitedly. Maeri finished chewing and swallowed. “Okay. Let’s do it!”  Then Woohyun all of the sudden put his hand out in front of her. “What?”

“Let’s pinky swear,” he demanded. Maeri giggled but gave into his silly request. “Now you can’t back out.” And with that, Maeri started to lose it and turned into a laughing mess. “What? What’s so funny?” he asked.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and calmed down. “I can’t believe we scheduled sex like it was a business meeting. We even shook on it!” Then she broke into laughter again.

Woohyun chuckled. “It _is_ a meeting…of our bodies, making negotiations of how 2 become 1,” he said as greasy as the chips were in the bowl on his stomach.

“A business merger?” Maeri retorted. Woohyun laughed and gave her a thumbs up. “Make sure to bring your suit,” she reminded him.

Woohyun looked at her, completely confused. “What suit?”

“Your birthday suit.”

“Aigoo!” Woohyun squealed, squirming in his spot. “You’re dirty.”

“Sh! Show’s back on.”

* * *

 

The next day, Maeri found herself in the mall on a mission. That night was _the_ night. Woohyun was going to see her at her most vulnerable, and the underwear that she was currently wearing was ugly, stretched out, and torn. She had woken up late that morning and had just put on whatever she had randomly grabbed from the drawers, without thinking about what was waiting for her when she got home. Well, who was waiting for her.

And even though they had been living together for a while, they were both really careful and respected each other’s privacy, changing in separate rooms. The only reason why she even knew what Woohyun’s underwear looked like was because she did the laundry. And even then, she felt uncomfortable handling them, but she wasn’t about to let Woohyun handle the laundry and her dingy intimates. Tonight was going to be awkward. Maybe enjoyable, but awkward. Which was why she needed new underwear, to give her confidence. Also giving him one less thing to make fun of her for.

She wandered into the lingerie shop and browsed its selection. She picked at the merchandise.  There were so many different designs, shapes, and patterns. _What does he even like? Polka-dots? Flowers? Oh look! Cupcakes!_ She picked out the bra with tiny little cupcakes dancing across the curve.

“Maeri, is that you?” someone called out to her. Maeri quickly hid the bra behind her back and turned around. It was Soyeon. “It is!” she said excitedly. “What are you doing here?” she asked, and then she spied the bra behind Maeri’s back.  “Oh…a gift for Woohyun. Hehe you guys…” She playfully nudged Maeri whose face was becoming the color of a strawberry.

Maeri waved her hands (including the bra) back and forth. “Ah, no no no…well sort of, I mean it’s mostly for me. I’m wearing it, but he’s going to see it,” she tried to defended herself but failed miserably, falling into a stream of rambles. Then she noticed what Soyeon was wearing, the chic, black store uniform with a name tag pinned to her chest. “So…wait? Do you work here?”

“Mhmm!” she responded, leaning on the rack.

“What does Sungyeol think about it?” Maeri asked.

Soyeon giggled. “I know. It’s weird right, considering,” she said, rubbing her growing belly.  “But Yeol doesn’t mind. I get discounts,” she ended with a wink.

“I’m not sure if I wanted to know that…” Maeri said under her breath.

“So how can I help you, miss?” Soyeon asked with all serious and professionalism, until she dissolved into giggles.

“Maybe you can.” Maeri said scratching the back of her neck. “Uh, um. Geez, I don’t even know how to ask this, but what do guys…like to…see?” she asked, stumbling over her words.

Soyeon looked up at the ceiling and thought for a few moments. “Well, it depends on the guy. Yeol prefers if I wear something lacy. But Woohyun…hmmm. Maybe I should ask Yeol,” she concluded, pulling out her cellphone from her pocket.

Maeri immediately grabbed Soyeon’s wrist in order to stop her from calling her husband. “No no! Please don’t. I, uh, want it to be a surprise?” she desperately begged. Maeri looked around, and underwear set with a heart pattern caught her eye. “This…this will be good, right?” she asked, pulling the item from the racks.

Soyeon scrunched her nose and shrugged. “Well, if you want to be cute-sy…” she began.

“Yes! I’ll take it,” Maeri interrupted her and started to make her way to the cash-register, eager to escape this awkward situation.

Soyeon pulled her Maeri by the back of her collar, stopping her. “Do you want to try it on first?” she asked.

Maeri turned around and blushed. “Oh, right. Okay. The fitting rooms are over there?” she asked giving in. Soyeon happily showed her to the fitting rooms and ushered her inside. Honestly, Maeri was a bit surprised that Soyeon didn’t come inside with her. Soyeon was a very…involved friend.

Maeri quickly put on the heart underwear and looked at herself in the mirror, after adjusting everything, getting things into their proper places. She tilted her head. “Well it fits. It supports. It’s a winner,” she muttered. _Actually this doesn’t look half bad_.

Then a little hand appeared over the top of the door. “Maeri!” Soyeon whispered. “Try these on too,” she demanded, as she threw some lingerie over the edge of the door.

“Soyeon,” Maeri whined.

“Humor me.” Soyeon commanded gently. “Who knows? You might like the way you look in them.” She dangled the underwear, swinging them back and forth, trying to entice Maeri.

Maeri sighed and grabbed them from her friend. “Okay, okay,” she gave in and took the items from her. She could hear Soyeon squeal in delight on the other side of the door. However, Maeri didn’t try them on. What Soyeon had given her were these practically sheer, black lace negligees. Things Maeri had never even imagined trying on in her wildest dreams. Even the heart underwear was a stretch from her usual solid colored underwear. Soyeon’s selections were way outside her comfort zone. After waiting a few moments and putting her clothes back on, Maeri knocked on the door and asked, “ I tried them on. Can I leave now?”

“So what will it be?” Soyeon asked in anticipation after opening the door and allowing Maeri to finally leave. Maeri handed her the heart set, and Soyeon raised an eyebrow. “Seriously just this? Well, the customer is always right, I guess,” she relented and led Maeri to the cash register. As Maeri was signing for the purchase, Soyeon threw one of the lace negligees into her bag. _A little gift from me and Yeol_ , she thought. Then she looked up at Maeri and said with an innocent smile, “Here you go. Have a nice day. Call me!”

Maeri grabbed the bag from her. “Thank you! I’ll see you later,” she waved goodbye to her friend. Right as she left the store, she sighed in relief. She was somewhat grateful for Soyeon’s intervention. Without that meddlesome pregnant lady, Maeri would probably still be in the store, meticulously looking through the merchandise, drowning in her indecisiveness. Now she had some time to spare before Woohyun came home. And all of the sudden, a wave of fatigue washed over her. _Oh no, this isn’t good_ , she said as she yawned. _I need my energy for…whatever. I’m getting coffee_.

Maeri walked into the mall’s cafe and bought some fancy, sugary espresso drink with a double-shot. She had no idea what she was saying as she ordered it, but it had the words “chocolate” and “caramel,” so she assumed that she could drink it easily. She picked up her drink order and was about to leave until she heard someone call her name. “Oh, Maeri! Come sit with me!”

Maeri turned towards the voice and saw Sunggyu. _Oh God, what did I do to deserve this? I know that I’m planning on premarital…coitus. But wasn’t Soyeon enough?_ She stared at Sunggyu’s smiling face and chewed on her lower lip. She hid the bag behind her back and walked over with the biggest smile that she could muster.  “Oh Gyu!” she answered, waving her free hand. She saw him shuffle some papers on the table, making enough room for her.  “What are you doing? Grading?” she asked as she sat down.

“Eung!” he nodded. “They took their first test.”

She spied at the papers, looking at all of the red markings on them. “How’d they do?” she asked, taking a sip from her sugary drink.

Sunggyu looked over at his papers. “Some did very well,” he admitted. “And some…make me wonder what they’re doing with their lives.”

Maeri laughed, “That bad, huh?”

He looked through the stack of papers as he spoke, “One student drew a picture of me being killed by a ninja for the essay question.” He pulled it out and handed it to her.

Maeri studied the drawing a laughed. “Oh, that’s actually pretty good!” she exclaimed. “Look at the detail. He got your eyes right,” she said, referring to the two tiny lines that the student drew.

Sunggyu ripped it from her hands and squinted as he looked at it. “Eyes? What eyes?” he asked. Maeri started to giggle mischievously. He hit her on the head with the said drawing. “Jerk,” he muttered under his breath, smiling slightly. “So what are you doing here?”

She felt her cheeks growing hot. “Shopping,” she stuttered. “…you know, girlie stuff.” She inched the lingerie bag closer to her legs, praying that he wouldn’t notice it. “So what kind of grader are you? Easy? A hard ass?” Maeri asked, trying hard to change the subject.

Sunggyu pouted his lips in thought and nodded. “Depends on my mood,” he concluded. “If I’m happy, I grade easier. If I’m mad…they fail,” he joked.

“So today?” Maeri asked, leaning in closer.

“I’m happy,”  he confessed with a shy smile, playing with the mug in his hands.

“So now your students will be happy,” Maeri said, throwing her hands in the air. “Then they will do better at school, which would make you happy.  It’s like a happiness cycle.”

Sunggyu laughed and looked down. Something on the floor had caught his eyes. “Oh something fell from your bag,” he said, bending over to pick it up for her. “What’s this? Is this…” he asked, looking utterly perplexed.

It was the black negligee that Soyeon had snuck into her bag. “Soyeon, you’re dead!” Maeri cursed in a low whisper. Her cheeks were now burning like a blazing bonfire; she couldn’t look at Sunggyu in the eyes. She was completely frozen not knowing what to do. And he was still holding it!

A smile broke out on his face. “Is this what you meant by girlie stuff?” he chuckled. But then his face immediately fell after realizing something.  “Uh, is this for…”

“NO!” Maeri blurted out and then smacked herself in the forehead.

“Huh? Are you?” he asked her, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. His grasp on the black lace tightened. _Great, now he thinks I’m cheating on Woohyun_ , Maeri grumbled to herself.

“It’s not mine. I mean, it was a gift,” she incoherently explained. She wanted nothing else but to die right then. This situation was only getting worse. “You can have it,” she sputtered.

“WHAT?” he exclaimed throwing the negligee in her face.

Maeri threw it back at him. “I don’t want it,” she argued.

Sunggyu immediately batted it back to her, barely touching it again. “Neither do I,” he whispered.

“Take it!” Maeri urged more strongly, tossing it back at him. She wanted nothing more but for that damn thing to disappear.

“No, you’re crazy,” he exclaimed. He shook the dreaded thing. “What am I going to do with it? Wear it?” he asked before throwing it at her again.

Maeri fell into a mini giggle fit. “But you’d look so pretty,” she said, trying to bring a little levity back into the situation.

Sunggyu smiled slightly and put the negligee back into her bag. “Shut up. Just take it,” he said gently, putting the matter to rest.

Maeri took a sip from her cup and quickly glanced at Sunggyu. “I should go now. I probably shouldn’t bother you anymore,” she said, slowly getting up from her chair. She had to run away before she made matters even worse. She waved to him as she walked away, being sure to hide the damned bag as she did so. “Be nice to your students! Bye bye, Gyu!”

“Bye!” he waved, giving her a sad smile. He looked at the test in front of him and sighed before marking it with a big, red “F.”

* * *

 

Even after her blundering shopping excursion, Maeri still ended up making it home before Woohyun. She changed in the new purchase and hid Soyeon’s “gift” in the back of her underwear drawer, hoping to never see it again. She didn’t know what to put on besides the underwear, so she put on the clothes she wore to work. Then she heard the door unlock, and she ran out to greet Woohyun, but then she slowed down so as to seem not so eager.

Woohyun walked through the door and smiled brightly at Maeri as he took off his shoes. “Are you ready to get down to business?” he asked suggestively.

“Yep, did you bring the paperwork?” Maeri responded with a sensual voice.

He stood up straight and cocked his head to the side. “What paperwork?”

Maeri covered her face with her hands and shook her head. “I don’t know what I’m saying! I’m getting nervous,” she confessed.

Woohyun chuckled as he walked up to her and cupped her cheeks with his hands. “Me too,” he admitted in a whisper. “So maybe we should stop talking.”

“Okay,” Maeri whispered. Then they slowly leaned in and kissed each other. Recently, ever since their pillow fight, Woohyun and Maeri have been kissing each other more frequently on the lips, but it was hardly more intense than their usual pecks. Now, slowly, they started to deepen the kiss, opening their mouths. Then, Maeri suddenly pulled back and grimaced. “Ew! What did you eat for lunch?” she asked.

Woohyun chuckled and checked his breath. He himself was revolted by the smell. He turned to Maeri with an apologetic smile. “Sorry. It was something with garlic. Maybe we should brush our teeth. You taste like coffee.”

Maeri blushed as they walked to their bathroom. “Well at least it’s better than garlic!” she defended herself. Once they got into the bathroom, she handed Woohyun his tooth brush and put some toothpaste on it. Then she did it for her own.

Woohyun looked at her and wiggled his eyebrows. “Get ready for the sexiest teeth-brushing you’ve ever had!”

“Pft!” Maeri spat some foam from her mouth. She wiped the foam from her chin. “How can you brush your teeth sexily?”

Woohyun closed his eyes and started swinging his hips as he rolled the tooth brush around in his mouth. With one of his hands, he began to loosen his tie and unbutton his top buttons on his shirt. Then he opened his eyes slightly looking at Maeri, who was about to die from laughter. “Am I turning you on right now?” he asked, spitting into the sink.

“Oh yea. Uh huh,” Maeri said after spitting into the sink. “I am so horny right now,” she joked. Then she started to tousle her hair and mimic his “seductive” dance.

“Whoa, Honey,” Woohyun said, barely able to hold back his laughter. “Keep it for the bedroom,” he advised, putting his hands on her shoulders. Then he quickly rinsed out his mouth and jumped onto the bed. He patted the spot next to him. “Come on, Honey.”

To his surprise, Maeri bounded over and landed in the spot right next to him. “Now, uh,” she stuttered, slightly blushing. “Do we?”

Woohyun answered her by leaning in and renewing their kiss, slowly building up to the place where they had left off moments ago. Woohyun gently opened her mouth and snuck his tongue past her lips. She was pliant and played along with the rhythm that he had established. But there was a problem. Woohyun’s mind had never been so unclouded, so clear during a make-out session. Every move he made was not the result of instinct, but a methodically planned out move. He was so conscious of everything _. Well, this is different. Hands! What do I do with my hands? What do I normally do with them? Come on, Woohyun, touch her somewhere_. He then placed his hands on her hips and drew her closer. Maeri automatically responded by draping her arms around his neck, bringing them even closer together.

Then Maeri pulled out of their kiss once again. “Maybe,” she began, looking at Woohyun nervously. “Maybe we should take off our clothes now?”

“Okay,” Woohyun agreed. “Who goes first?”

“Rock, paper, scissors?” she suggested.

“Call!”

“Rock, paper, scissors, SHOOT!”

“Damn it!”

Woohyun chuckled, delighting in his victory. “I get to see your boobies,” he teased.

“Boobies? What are you, five?” she chided.

“Plus 25 years.” And then he wagged his finger at her. “You’re stalling.”

Maeri hurriedly buttoned her shirt, took it off, and threw it in his face. “Fine! Happy now?” she huffed. But then she noticed Woohyun’s expression. After removing her shirt from his face, his eyes were concentrated on her eyes, unwilling to look down, completely in a daze. Maeri giggled. “You know, you can look at them,” she said.

Woohyun quickly glanced down at her breasts and then looked back up at her face. “Hearts,” was all he managed to say with a shy smile.

“Your turn,” Maeri demanded.

He slowly unbuttoned his shirt, biting his lower lip, making a comically seductive expression. Maeri laughed. But then he finished and removed her shirt, and she was no longer laughing, her eyes fixated on what was just revealed to her. _I didn’t know that he had abs. It’s so defined. It looks like ridges…like on potato chips. Oh my God! Did I just compare his body to food? I am getting kind of hungry. Maybe we can go out later_ , she thought.

“You like?” Woohyun asked, interrupting her inner monologue.

Maeri was still looking at them. “Have you been working out?”

Woohyun laughed at her being so stunned. “Yep,” he admitted. “With Hoya everyday…you can touch them, if you want,” he offered.

Maeri poked him in his side causing him to giggle a little bit. “You’re so skinny,” she muttered.

“I think that you’re confusing skinny for toned,” he argued, flexing his muscles. _Enough with the stalling_ , he thought. “Let’s do this,” he said, pulling in Maeri and kissing her once again. This time, it felt a bit more natural. His hands automatically went to her lower back, and she began to stroke the nape of his neck tenderly. Woohyun was wondering if he should make the next move, but then  his phone (which was still in his pocket) rang.  He stopped and pulled himself away. “Maybe I should check it,” he said, slightly out of breath.

“Yea, it might be important,” she agreed.

He took the phone from his pocket and looked at the caller id. “Oh, it’s my mom. I should get it,” he said with an apologetic smile. He was slightly grateful for his mom spoiling the moment. He wagered that the both of them had bitten off more than they could chew, but not wanting to stop lest they hurt each the other’s feelings. It was obvious that they weren’t ready for this step. He jumped from the bed and answered the phone, “Hello, mom?”

When Woohyun left the room, Maeri was left on the bed, feeling cold all of the sudden. _Do I put my shirt back on? Or not? Would he really want to try again after talking to his mom? I mean, I’m cold, but…Aw screw it! I’m putting it back on._

Then Woohyun burst through the doors just as Maeri was about to put her arm through the sleeve. She was about to apologize again, but then she noticed his eyes, trying hard to fight back the tears that were threatening to flow out. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” she asked immediately getting up and walking over to him.

“My dad…he just had a heart attack.”

* * *

 

* _The Runaway Bunny_ by Margaret Wise Brown. Illustrated by Clement Hurd. Harper and Row Publishers: New York City. 1942.


	11. "I trust you" (age 18)

"I trust you."

"You're crazy," Maeri retorted stomping her foot. "Couldn't you have picked anybody else?" 

Woohyun and Maeri were currently on an overnight camping field trip with the rest of their school. The whole point of the trip was to have the students bond closely with each other, especially the upperclassmen as it was one of their last school functions before graduation. Maeri wanted to take this opportunity to bond more closely with her crush, Kim Myungsoo, but Woohyun had different plans for them, as usual. Right now, the students were doing trust falls. One student blindly falling into the arms of another in high hopes that the latter student would not drop them. Sounds like a good idea, right? It would be if they were in same-sex pairs like they were supposed to be, but Woohyun insisted on being Maeri's partner, tearing her away from all of her potential female partners. Normally, Maeri would more than happy to oblige Woohyun's crazy whims, but this time, she didn't think it would work. Maeri didn't believe she could handle all of Woohyun's weight falling at full force in her direction. It was a recipe for disaster.

"No," Woohyun answered honestly glancing over his shoulder at Maeri. "Hyunsuk would have dropped me because he would think it would be funny. Myungsoo had already partnered up with Minhwan. And Seungho has arms like a girl, so he wouldn't be able to catch me."

"What about my arms? I _am_ a girl!" Maeri whined as she shook her limbs.

Woohyun chuckled, "You have arms like a gorilla. You'll be able to do it. I believe in you." Then he turned around with his back facing her. He crossed his arms on his chest and closed his eyes tightly. "And now, catch me!" he commanded as he fell backwards.

"Ah!" Maeri yelped. She wasn't ready for Woohyun to fall yet. Her knees locked, and she quickly stretched out her arms to accept his descending body. She was too little too late. Instead of gently catching his body, it instead collided with her own, and they landed on the ground in a heap. "Ow!" Maeri moaned. When she crashed into the ground, there was a rock that hit her right in the middle of her back. Also Woohyun was still lying on top of her, his hair had fallen into her open mouth, so she was practically eating his hair. "Ugh!" she said as she was spitting out his hair. "Get off of me!"

Woohyun rolled off of her and smiled apologetically, his eyes practically disappearing behind his round cheeks. "Sorry," he said as he stood up and dusted off his knees before he helped Maeri to her feet.

Maeri winced as she patted the sore spot in the middle of her back with her palms. "I told you not to trust me," she grumbled.

"But you still broke my fall," he chuckled. As far as he was concerned, their trust fall was a success. She didn't intentionally drop him like Hyunsuk would have, and she even sacrificed her own body for his safety. Woohyun studied Maeri as she rubbed her back. "Did you get hurt? Here, let me help," he said as he gently moved Maeri's hand and replaced it with own, rubbing her sore spot.

Maeri blushed and quickly side-stepped away from Woohyun. "No, it's okay. I'm fine," she assured him, her eyes fixated onto the ground. Woohyun sighed. She was always like that, masking her pain, pretending things were okay when they weren't. It didn't matter if the pain was physical, mental, or emotional. Maeri always carried on like nothing ever happened. He had never even seen her cry before. What kind of teenage girl doesn't cry? Sometimes Woohyun was almost convinced that she was a cyborg from another planet. But she wasn't hardly sexy enough to be a cyborg. The cyborgs on t.v. and in the movies were always perfectly proportionate, curvy women. And Yoo Maeri was...flat like a kimchi pancake. Unless she was made to perfectly and unsuspectingly blend in with the populace then...

"Yah! Nam Woohyun!" Maeri yelled as she flicked him in the forehead, halting his conspiracy theorizing. 

"Aish!" Woohyun cursed as he rubbed his fresh injury. "What was that for?"

Maeri smiled, reveling in her friend's pain. "You weren't listening! Anyway, we're all gathering around the bonfire and telling ghost stories," she explained. Then she turned from him and walked towards the blazing conflagration. 

Woohyun ran to catch up with her and then slowed his pace to match hers. "But you hate ghost stories," he stated.

"Yea," Maeri said puffing her cheeks in frustration. "But everyone else wants to do it." Then she turned to him and smiled sheepishly. "Will you sit next to me?"

Woohyun nodded emphatically. "Eung. Do you need me to protect you from the scary ghosts?" he asked, flexing his bicep.

Maeri giggled and playfully shoved him away. "NO!" she exclaimed. "It's just that you hate ghost stories more than I do, so I'll look brave in comparison, sitting next to your pansy ass." And after saying that biting remark she stuck out her tongue and ran over to the bonfire, taking a seat next to Myungsoo on the log-bench.

"Yah!" Woohyun shouted at her, his pride hurt. But she wasn't listening, being too busy flirting with her crush. Woohyun scoffed and smirked. He was going to make Maeri eat her own words. _I'll show you who the real pansy is._

* * *

 

"And then the mother said they didn't have a life-size teddy bear in the nursery. The babysitter ran back into the room and saw the skin of the teddy bear lying on the floor, completely empty," Hyunsuk ended with an eerie, shaky voice. The flames from the fire casted dark shadows onto his face, causing shivers to run down Maeri's spine.

Yerim then gasped, "So the escaped murder was in the teddy bear the whole time?! Creepy!"

"I think you mean lame," Seungho scoffed. "What kind of murder dresses up as a teddy bear?"

"Uh, a crazy psychopath, duh!" Hyunsuk argued, defending his scary story.

Maeri rolled her eyes at the bickering boys, pretending to be unaffected by the story, but on the inside she was shivering and was growing increasingly paranoid. There weren't any escaped prisoners in the woods right now, right? If there were, their chaperones would have surely told them and got them out of there...unless they were in on it too and wanted to murder them all. _Shut up brain! Shut up!_

"Whoa," Myungsoo exclaimed with a slight tremble. He faced Maeri. "That was scary, wasn't it?" he remarked.

Maeri looked straight into the fire, pulling her knees into her chest and then resting her head on them. "N-no," she stuttered. "I-I'm not scared. That wasn't scary at all, right Woohyun?" She turned to the spot next to her where Woohyun was only moments prior, but it was now vacant. Her side all of the sudden felt cold, unprotected. She frantically faced Myungsoo, completely frazzled. "Woohyun's gone! Where did he go?" she demanded. _The escaped prisoner must've gotten him!_ her crazed mind hypothesized. 

Myungsoo just laughed. "He probably just went to the bathroom," he guessed. _Right, bathroom. That's logical,_ Maeri thought, but she still couldn't shake this uncomfortable feeling. She probably wouldn't be able to get rid of it until she saw Woohyun's face again, all safe and sound. Then Myungsoo put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure he's fine," he assured her. 

Then Maeri could hear the mournful howl of some wild beast resound through the night sky. "W-what was that?" she asked with a trembling voice.

Seungho leaned forward so that he could see Maeri. "Didn't you know?" he asked as if everyone already knew. "There's a wild pack of wolves that live in these woods."

Shinah shoved Seungho's shoulder. "Shut up!" she demanded. "You're lying!"

Hyunsuk pipped up defending his friend, "No he's right! They've been prowling this place for a while, attacking hikers and campers." _First escaped convicts and now wolves? Why the hell did our teachers bring us here?!_

Maeri dropped her knees, allowing them to fall to the ground. Her hands now clutched onto the log that she was sitting on. Then she heard Myungsoo speak. "Isn't the bathroom back  there?" he asked pointing towards the woods. Then a familiar scream emitted from the forest behind them.

"WOOHYUNy!"  Maeri exclaimed as she automatically jumped up from the bench. She broke out into a sprint, heading straight into the woods towards the source of the scream.

"Maeri-yah!" Yerim shouted after her. "Don't be a hero!"

But Maeri didn't care for her own safety. Her best friend was trapped in the woods possibly being mauled by a pack of wolves or being hacked into pieces by a psychopath. "Woohyun! Hyun! Where are you?" she yelled into the empty air, running blindly in the dark. The light from the bonfire couldn't reach this far out. 

"Aagh!" she heard Woohyun groan from a few steps behind her.

She quickly turned on her heels. "Hyun?" she spoke barely above a whisper. Her throat grew tight and dry, her voice weak. Her heart was beating faster and faster as she stepped closer and closer to where she thought the sound was coming from. "Woohyun?"

"GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRUFF!" something growled as it hit the back of Maeri's knees, tackling her into the ground.

"AHHHHHHH!" Maeri yelped thrashing her legs and arms about. "Get off! Get off! Get OFF!" she pleaded on the verge of tears.

"Ow! Hey! Watch it! You just punched me in the face," Maeri heard a voice whine. She rolled over onto her back and saw Woohyun tenderly rubbing his jaw. "It hurts," he complained with a pout.

Maeri scrambled to her feet. "Y-yah! Y-you!" she stuttered as she accusingly pointed at him.

Woohyun had a satisfied smile on his face. "Yea, me," he pointed to himself. "Who's the pansy ass now?" he taunted her.

Maeri pushed him in his chest. "You...scared...the...crap...out...of...me!" she yelled, shoving him at every word she spoke.

"That was the point," he chuckled, standing his ground in spite of Maeri's abuse.

"Aw! We missed it!" Seungho complained as he and the rest of the gang joined Maeri and Woohyun.

"What do you mean missed it?" Maeri asked raising and eyebrow. Then she gasped. "W-were you all in on it?!"

Everyone nodded, including Myungsoo whom she least expected. "Yea," Hyunsuk started as he wrapped an arm around Woohyun's shoulder and pointed to him. "It was this guy's great idea, but honestly we all like seeing you squirm. It's cute," he finished, pinching Maeri's cheek with his free hand.

Maeri slapped his hand and pouted. "You all suck!" she yelled as she stormed off.

"Maeri!" Woohyun called after her. Maeri turned around with an utterly annoyed expression on her face. "Campsite's that way," he chuckled as he pointed in the opposite direction. 

"THANK YOU!" she gruffly yelled and stomped off towards the campsite.

* * *

 

Maeri was sitting in front of the bonfire, alone. She was noisily chewing on a packet of chips, exercising her frustration she had against her friends with her mouth. Then she felt someone sit down next to her, but she didn't bother to see who it was. Her eyes were concentrated on the fire, watching the orange flames dance in the night sky.

"I'm sorry," Myungsoo apologized also gazing into the fire. "We shouldn't have taken it that far."

Maeri swallowed a mouthful of chips, but it still left a hard lump in her throat. "It's fine, I guess," she grumbled. 

"Do you like Woohyun?" Myungsoo suddenly asked chewing on his thumb.

Maeri snorted. "Haha! No! Why would you ask that?"

He turned towards her with a dubious look. "Because you ran into the woods after him, even though you thought he was being attacked by a pack of wolves," he explained, kicking the dirt with his shoe.

"Myungsoo," Maeri said calmly leaning in, brushing her shoulder against his. "He's my best friend. Of course, I would go in after him." Then she chewed on her bottom lip before continuing, "You know, I would fight off wolves for you too."

"Why?" he asked with a surprised giggle.

Maeri hung her head allowing her hair cover her reddening cheeks. "Because you're my friend too," she admitted sheepishly.

Myungsoo put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw him smile charmingly at her. "I would fight wolves _and_ crazy murders for you," he retorted.

"Why?" Maeri quietly asked, her heart practically beating outside of her chest.

"Because..." he began, but his voice was cut off.

"Myungsoo! Minhwan is looking for you," Woohyun called out as he approached the couple on the log-bench. He plopped himself down between the two of them. "He says it's urgent."

Myungsoo quickly got up from the bench. "Then I better go. See you guys later!" he said cheerfully as he waved goodbye. Then he turned around and left.

Maeri slapped Woohyun so hard on the back of his head that his hat fell off. "I was this close to getting him to confess, you big fat jerk!" she cursed.

Woohyun bent over to pick up his hat off of the ground. After dusting the dirt off, instead of putting it back on his own head, he forced it onto Maeri's until it covered her eyes. "I still don't get why you think he likes you," he muttered.

Maeri pushed up the brim of the hat with her index finger so that she could see clearly. "Because he's nice to me and..."

"He's nice to everyone," Woohyun interrupted.

"AND," Maeri continued, ignoring his comment. "Shinah said that Hyunsuk..."

"Veto!" Woohyun interrupted again.

This time his interjection derailed Maeri from her line of thought. "Huh?" she asked raising her eyebrow.

"Veto," he said again. "I object to you dating him." Maeri opened her mouth, about to say something but he shut her up. "I don't think that he's a good match for you. He's too boring. And besides, I don't think he likes you like you think he does...Don't you trust me?" Maeri rolled her eyes. Given the most recent turn of events, Woohyun didn't prove himself to be the most trustworthy person. Woohyun could read her thoughts and waved his hands, dismissing them. "Forget all of the pranks for a second and think about our friendship. Don't you trust me?" he asked again.

After pondering for a few moments, Maeri reluctantly nodded. "Yea, I trust you to catch me during trust falls or to save me if I was in danger. You would try to save me from a pack of vicious wolves, right?"

"Of course! They wouldn't stand a chance!" he excitedly responded with a reassuring smile.

Maeri finally smiled back and continued, "But I don't think I trust your opinion on love."

"So you'll trust me with you life but not with your heart?" he asked sounding a little hurt. "Why should it be any different?"

There was something about Myungsoo and Maeri that Woohyun didn't like. Sure, Myungsoo was a good friend of both of them, and he was friendly and handsome. There was no doubt in his mind that if Maeri and Myungsoo did date, he would treat her like a princess. But that was it. Maeri didn't want a prince anymore than she wanted to be a princess. She was too much of a tomboy to let herself be pampered. Plus, like Woohyun said earlier, Myungsoo was rather dull. She would soon become bored with him. Then there was the fact of their impending graduation, and everyone potentially moving on to different colleges. Woohyun didn't want her to get into a relationship that he knew would fail in a few months' time. Especially after his disastrous relationship with Jiyoung, he realized that some relationships would've been better if they had never even began. He had wished that Maeri had objected to Jiyoung earlier. He knew that his best friend never liked his ex, but if she had said something, verbally rejecting the notion of them dating rather than just supporting them, Maeri would have saved him from a world of suffering from the hands of the demanding Jiyoung.

For now it would be better if he, Maeri, and Myungsoo just all remained good friends.

"Fine!" Maeri groaned finally giving in. She, too, realized that it would be pointless to start a relationship with someone at the end of their final year of high school, when they would probably just have to separate in a few months. She turned to her friend with a stern expression. "But I get the power of veto too."

"Of course!" he immediately agreed.

* * *

 

The next day, Maeri spotted Woohyun flirting with a girl who was a year below them. He was trying to show her how to skip stones on the lake's surface. He was guiding the young girl's arm, back and forth, showing her the proper motion. "It's like this," he said, his mouth dangerously close to her ear.

"Oh really, Oppa?" the girl responded, her voice an octave higher than it normally would be.

Maeri snorted as she marched up to them and grabbed Woohyun by the collar of his shirt. "Veto!" she declared as she yanked him away from the innocent girl.

"But...but..." Woohyun began to object.

But Maeri wasn't swayed by his aegyo-laced objections. "VETO!" she declared once more with more force.

The power of veto wasn't something the either of them exercised too often. Although Maeri did invoke it more often, but it wasn't her fault that Woohyun's taste in girls was horrible. He only had one requirement: that they be female. And Woohyun was a little resentful that he couldn't veto more often. Maeri was so damn picky that she didn't date much in the first place. But occasionally, she would select some loser, lowering her standards, and Woohyun would immediately object. They both of them only wanted the best for one another. And the veto was one way how they could assure that. It saved them from some potentially horrible relationships, but occasionally both of them would wonder if it hindered them from potentially great relationships as well.


	12. "I trust you" (age 30)

Woohyun and Maeri rushed to the hospital as fast as they could. Maeri drove them there because after receiving the news about his father, Woohyun was paralyzed with fear, his mind overwhelmed by the situation and his emotions. Maeri had to literally drag him into the car. She felt like crying just by looking at him, but she bit her tongue and blinked the tears away. She needed to be strong for him. And mostly because she was driving. Tears and cars don’t mix. She learned that from all the dramas and movies she watched.

 The drive there was silent. Woohyun rested his head against the window with his eyes closed, trying hard to calm the chaos within his heart. All Maeri could do, besides drive the car, was to hold his hand, proving that she was still by his side. It was all she could think to do.

After they parked, Woohyun jolted out of the car and ran into the hospital’s lobby, with Maeri trailing a few steps behind. “Ahjumma!” Woohyun shouted, running towards Maeri’s mother. “Where is he? Where’s everybody?”

“Woohyun! Maeri! You’re finally here. Come on. I’ll take you were the others are,” she spoke while she hugged the both of them suffocatingly tight. She navigated down the white halls at a brisk  pace, but it still wasn’t fast enough for Woohyun. He was practically stepping on her heels with impatience. The longer he didn’t see his father, the more his mind became occupied with thinking of the worst possible outcome.

“This is it,” her mother announced, when they reached the room. “He’s…” she started to tell Woohyun, but he already barged inside the room. “Asleep.” Maeri was about to follow after him, but her mother tugged on her arm, pulling her away from the doorway.

Maeri furrowed her eyebrows, looking at her mother as if she was a lunatic. “Why can’t I go in?” she asked roughly.

Her mother smirked and pointed towards her daughter’s shirt. Maeri looked down, and immediately felt heat rush to her cheeks. In her rush to get dressed again after her and Woohyun’s intimate misadventure, she apparently had skipped several buttons while putting her shirt on, causing the whole shirt to be askew, exposing bits of her stomach and bra with its awkward gaps. “Fix that first,” her mother gently chided.

“I meant to do this,” Maeri lied. “It’s the hot new trend.”

“Uh huh,” her mother responded with an amused smile. “Also, get Woohyun to fix his hair. Jonghyun’s in there for crying out loud. He’s only 12! But it’s nice to see that you two are _healthy_.” With that, she left her daughter stunned and walked into the hospital room.

 _There’s no way she knows that we were…_ Maeri thought as she re-buttoned her shirt, but as soon as she walked into the room, she saw what her mother had been referring to. There was Woohyun, sitting by his mother at his father’s bed-side, holding his hand, and his hair was messy, sticking out at random angles where Maeri had pulled it earlier. He had sex hair, in a hospital. Maeri immediately shuffled over to his side after acknowledging her brother, father, and Woohyun’s mother. Standing next to him, she tried to nonchalantly (and under the guise of comforting) smooth his hair back into place. Woohyun, not knowing what she was actually doing, leaned into her side, accepting her petting.

“How is he? What’s going to happen now?” he asked, stroking the back of his father’s hand.

His mother sighed. “He’s not good. A coronary artery is completely clogged. He’ll be staying here for a few days, and then he’ll undergo bypass surgery.” She brought a damp, crumpled tissue to her eyes to wipe the tears spilling out of them. Woohyun let go of his father’s hand, moved away from Maeri, and put his arm around his mother, making her lean onto him.

“When’s Boohyun-hyung going to be here?” Jonghyun asked with a great yawn. He shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable.

Mrs. Nam frowned and looked at her phone. “He texted me back saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it until tomorrow. But he’s taken the rest of the week off to stay with us.”

Woohyun bit his lower lip while he nodded.  “So how long will he be here for?”

“Depends on how well he does,” his mother said with a shaky voice.

Mr. Yoo spoke up from the other side of the room, “He’s a strong, resilient man. He’ll be out soon enough.”

“I hope so,” Mrs. Nam remarked bringing a hand to her mouth.

Woohyun patted her shoulder. “I’m sure he will,” he reassured her, at the same time praying to God that his words would be true. Then he looked up at Maeri, who was still standing, unusually silent. Her eyes her fixated on Mr. Nam’s face with an unreadable expression. He tugged at the bottom of her shirt. She turned to him. Her eyes were dry, annoyingly dry. He himself was having a hard time holding back his tears, but she didn’t look like she was having a hard time at all. She tilted her head as to ask what he had wanted. After he hadn’t said anything, she looked back at his father while resuming to pet Woohyun’s head. Woohyun didn’t know what he had expected. Maeri had always sucked at this, comforting others. She never knew what do to, so she normally ended up just doing one thing over and over again. Today, it was petting him like a dog. Well, it was better than the time when she only patted him on the back for an hour straight after he broke up with his girlfriend. He had little, red Maeri handprints all over his back. It hurt more than his broken heart did at that time.

“Ahjumma, have you eaten?” Maeri finally spoke up. “Have any of you eaten?” The elders shook their heads. “I’ll go get you guys something,” she announced as she began to take her leave.

“Maeri, you don’t need to. I’m not even hungry,” Mrs. Nam admitted.

Maeri shook her head. “I’ll get you something just in case. You should still eat,” she explained. _Besides, I don’t think I can be in here any longer._ She walked up to her brother slightly drowsy. She slapped him on his knee. “Hey kiddo, do you want to come?”

Jonghyun rubbed his eyes. “Yea. Hyung, are you coming?” he asked Woohyun expectantly.

Woohyun smiled sadly and shook his head. “I’ll stick around here,” he answered. _And we just got here. Can’t she just stay a little longer? I didn’t mind the petting._ He watched Jonghyun jump out of his chair and walk with Maeri out of the room, waving to everybody before disappearing.  He smiled sadly and turned to his mother. “It’s going to be okay.” But staring down at his father's sleeping face, it was obvious that the man was in pain, even in his unconscious state. He also looked so small and fragile. He didn't look like Woohyun's dad at all.

 

The next week dragged on so slowly. Woohyun felt as if he was in a time warp or an alternate universe. He and Maeri decided it would be better if they both moved back into their parents' house. That way they could look after Woohyun's parents and the house. They would cook dinners and keep the house clean in their spare time whenever they weren't at work or the hospital. Woohyun hated those visits to the hospital. All they would do is sit around his father's bed either idly chatting or watching him sleep. He felt stagnant, helpless. Everything felt so out of his control. He would have all this nervous energy built up because he felt compelled to do something. And usually after he paced the hospital room for an hour (receiving glares from his mother and brother), he would excuse himself and announce that he would make dinner for everyone back at the house.

Maeri would join him, and the two would pass the evening cooking and cleaning...in absolute silence. At first, Woohyun wouldn't talk because he was too upset, but then he kept his lips tightly sealed, wondering if Maeri would ever start the conversation. She never did. She would hardly mutter a word to him. But that wasn't the thing that was bothering him the most. What was bothering him was her face, which was stoic, with a small smile permanently afixed on her annoying lips. What was there to be happy about? One time, Woohyun even heard her humming a jaunty tune. Whereas he hadn't genuinely smiled in days, or even slept. Woohyun couldn't sleep at all, even after his father's surgery was successful and he was released from the hospital. Woohyun's mind was still plagued with worries about his dad, mom, everything. His dark circles were so large that he looked like a skinny panda bear. And whenever Woohyun closed his heavy eyes, he was bombarded with images of his father's failing health and his mom's tearstained face. This was due to the fact that all of his worries he kept bottled up inside. He didn't want to add to the worries of his mother or Boohyun. And then Maeri was avoiding him, even at night. Whenever it was time for them to go to bed, she went across the street to her parents' house and slept there. Maeri said that it would be awkward for them to share a bed when his mom was right across the hall (Mrs. Nam didn't mind. In fact, she encouraged it, but Maeri insisted). Woohyun didn't realize how he was so use to sleeping by her side. His bed felt cold, big, and empty without her. He missed being her little spoon (which Maeri had allowed him to be more than she would care to admit).

Even though Maeri was notoriously bad at comforting people, she was never this bad before, and Woohyun never wanted her by his side so badly before either. He had never felt so alone.

His stress was starting to take a toll not only on his health, but also his work. And after falling asleep for the second time during a meeting at work, his boss sent him home to "get some much needed rest." But Woohyun didn't want to go home quite yet. What did he have waiting for him there? An empty bed where he would just toss and turn over and over again. To have his parents worry over him for being sent home from work like a kid sent home from school for having the flu. No, he wasn't willing to go through any of that. Instead he brought himself to the only place he could think of.

The library was an odd choice for Woohyun at the moment because he wanted to do nothing more than to obliterate silence in his life. But the library was different. It was supposed to be quiet, so it wasn't jarring. He walked down the aisle, not really looking for any book in particular. As he was pulling off a book from the shelf, something on the other side of the shelf caught his eye, or more specifically someone. On the other side was Hani, restocking the shelves with the books which were returned. Woohyun smiled. She was completely focused on her work and didn't notice Woohyun staring at her. He leaned his back against the bookshelf and side-stepped to the end of the aisle. He peered down the other side, about to jump out and surprise Hani, but he couldn't see her anywhere. All that was in the aisle was her book cart. Woohyun stepped out from his hiding place and cocked his head. Then all of the sudden, he felt something grab his ankle. "Got ya!" Hani yelled. She was crouching down on the floor, right next to Woohyun.

"Aaaaaaah!" Woohyun yelped as he slumped onto the floor. His hand flew to the chest. He could feel his heart racing against his palm. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Hani said as she got up and helped Woohyun up as well. "I would say that I didn't mean to, but that would be a lie."

"How did you know I was here?" he asked.

"I could hear you giggling on the other side," she answered with a smile. "It was kind of a dead give away."

Woohyun pouted as he kicked his foot against the carpet. "I must be out of it," he said with a yawn.

Hani studied him as his mouth opened larger than she thought humanly possible. "Yea, you look out of it," she mumbled. Then she looked around, making sure none of her superiors were around. "Follow me," she ushered him. She led him to behind the check-out desk, to the break room. Hani then sat him down at a table and began to pour him a cup of coffee.

"Am I supposed to even be back here?" he asked as he looked around the break room which was covered with promotional posters for books. "You just break all of the rules for me, don't you?"

Hani scoffed as she handed him the cup. "I'm just taking care of my hoobae," she defended with a smirk. Then she looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "I'd like to stick and chat, but I have to go do story time for the kids."

"Can I do it?"

 

Moments later, Woohyun found himself in Hani's story-time chair on the circle rug, completely surrounded by a large herd of children looking at him eagerly. Most of them crowded around Hani, either sitting in her lap or leaning against her. It was obvious that the kids genuinely liked her. He was reading a story about a barber who was hired by king who never took off his large crown. It turned out that the crown was so big so that it could cover his elephant like ears. The king threatened the barber not to tell anyone or else he would be killed. But this funny secret was eating the barber alive. He had to just tell someone, so he went deep into the forest and told a tree. Woohyun couldn't help but to relate to the barber. All he wanted to do was talk to someone and share his worries. _Maybe I should go to a park and talk to a tree? No, that's stupid, Woohyun. There must be a human you can talk to. Think, Woohyun, think._

Then it came to him. The perfect person to talk to. So after he finished the story (the tree ended up being used to build instruments which were played at the king's wedding, and they played a song exposing the king's secret) Woohyun said a quick word of thanks to Hani for the coffee, and he ran out the door.

Shortly, Woohyun was standing in front of the apartment that he used to live in and  knocked impatiently on the door, hoping that he was home from work. After hovering at the door for a few moments and not hearing a sound from inside the apartment, Woohyun turned around and was about to leave, but the door suddenly opened.

"Oh, Woohyun it's you...Dongwoo's not home right now,"  Sunggyu said, confused that Woohyun had suddenly appeared at his door.

Woohyun rubbed the back of his neck with his hands. "That's okay. I was actually looking for you."

Sunggyu's small eyes widened, and he pointed to himself. "Me?"

Woohyun nodded. "Eung. Can I come in?" he asked. Instead of responding with words, Sunggyu just opened the door and ushered him inside. Woohyun immediately stepped inside and walked over to the fishbowl, teasing the red betta fish with his finger. "Hey little me! How's it going?" he cooed. He then looked up at Sunggyu who was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets, eyeing the intruder suspiciously. Woohyun forced a smile onto his face, trying to put the man at ease, but Sunggyu ended up looking even more confused.

"So, Woohyun," Sunggyu finally began, walking over to the fishbowl and dropping some fish food into the water. "Why did you want to see me?"

Woohyun coughed awkwardly, not knowing how to approach the topic. "Maeri told me about what happened to you…to your parents," he gently said, watching Sunggyu carefully, gaging his reaction.

"Oh, she did?" Sunggyu responded slightly surprised. His eyes watched the fish swim to the surface and munch on the flakes.

Woohyun then grew impatient and decided to stop beating around the bush. He asked the questions that had been floating around his mind for days. "Gyu, how did you do it? How did you deal with all of that? My dad didn’t even…and I can’t seem to move on," his voice began to crack near the end, trying to choke back his emotions.

Sunggyu pursed his lips. Woohyun began to wonder if he breached a difficult topic too early and tactlessly. After all, he and Sunggyu barely knew each other, and now Woohyun was dredging up a painful subject. He was about to apologize, but then Sunggyu suddenly turned towards him. "I didn’t," he confessed with a sad smile. His eyes now glued to the floor. "I didn’t deal with it. I ran away. I sold their house. I sold mostly everything and moved here. I even left my noona behind." He looked up at Woohyun, who was speechless. "I couldn't stay there any longer. Everything there reminded me of them. And instead of confronting it and dealing with it like a man, I ran away like a little kid."

After his confession, a silence grew in between them. Woohyun had not expected Sunggyu to say so much or be that honest. Sunggyu's eyes were still fixated on the floor, and his arms were crossed across his chest. For the first time since they met, Sunggyu looked human, someone Woohyun could actually relate to. Woohyun wrapped his arms around his shoulders. Sunggyu looked up at him, and Woohyun gave him a warm smile. "Well, you fooled me. You seem to be holding it together pretty well."

"Really?" Sunggyu asked, raising his eyebrows in shock.  "It’s all acting, I guess, not wanting to seem weak. But to be honest, I’m not doing too well." Then he walked over to the couch and sat down. Woohyun joined him. Then Sunggyu suddenly broke out into a chuckle. "It’s funny."

"What?"

"Well, not funny, but strange," Sunggyu clarified, tilting his head. "You know that your parents are human. Hell, they make mistakes and are far from perfect. But you forget, just like all humans, they die. And you’re completely shocked when they do."

"I know what you mean," Woohyun agreed with a nod. "My dad’s a tough guy, a really strong, tough guy. Whenever we went camping, he would dive into the ice-cold river and stay there until he caught a fish bare-handed. And there was that one time he scared off a bear. He just went right up to it and RAWR!" Woohyun suddenly roared causing Sunggyu to jump. Woohyun laughed and continued, "And it ran away like a puppy with its tail in between his legs. But then…now he’ll never be the same. I used to think he was superman, but now I realize that he’s just Clark Kent. It’s stupid, right?" he asked gnawing on his lower lip. Now he was worried that he divulged too much.

"No, it isn’t," Sunggyu answered and then shared, "My dad didn’t fight bears, but he was cool. He was a defense lawyer. Because he had already inherited a lot of money from his grandfather, he took up a lot of pro bono cases, helping out those in need. And for all of his life, he was this sharp-witted, healthy guy. But then he developed a brain tumor. It was weird, watching him change, becoming more and more sick. I hated it, seeing him like that. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy."

"Death…sucks," Woohyun ended not being able to think of anything else better to say.

"Yea," Sunggyu muttered in response. Then he turned to Woohyun. "Do you want to drink?"

Woohyun smiled. "I thought that you would never ask."

 

"Huh, that's weird. He's not answering his phone," Maeri pouted, blinking at her phone. She was calling Woohyun, seeing if he wanted to ride with her to his house, and maybe they could stop by for some food, like a quick date. But now he wasn't answering his phone. It was weird. He hardly ever ignored her phone calls. She chewed on her lips, staring at her phone's blank surface. He was mad. She couldn't blame him. She would be mad too, if the situation was reversed. She screwed up, royally.

Her phone suddenly vibrated in her hands. She had received a text from him:

_I'm busy now. I'll call you when I'm done._

It was short and curt, void of all emoticons and emotions in general. What had she done? Nothing. That was it. She had done nothing. Woohyun had obviously been hurting this entire week and was incredibly stressed out. And she had done nothing to help him. Sure she had helped out with Mr. and Mrs. Nam, acting like a good future daughter-in-law, but as a girlfriend,  she sucked.

Her phone vibrated again, and she looked at it, expecting it to be Woohyun possibly with a friendlier text. It wasn't.

_Maeri! It's Hani. Do you want to eat dinner with me? I'm hungry and lonely. Please say yes._

 

"Hahaha!" Woohyun and Sunggyu were laughing hysterically on the couch, facing each other with their backs leaning against the armrests. The floor was littered with empty beer cans. They were exchanging stories from their childhood and about their families. "I can't believe you did that!" Woohyun wheezed as he clenched his side, gasping for air.

"It's my noona's fault!" Sunggyu tried to defend himself. "She told me that if I ate it, I'd get smarter."

"Pabo!" Woohyun teased as he nudged the other with his foot. "How could eating glue make you smarter?"

"I don't know. It was something about making words stick in your brain," Sunggyu muttered. Woohyun renewed his peal of laughter. "Yah! I was only four!" Sunggyu then laughed along with him, recalling the ridiculous situation and his innocence back then.

"What happened next?" Woohyun asked after his laughter abided.

"My mom flipped out, of course, when she came home. I had little bits of paper glued all around my mouth. She had to peel them off one by one, and it hurt like hell," he finished and took a swig from his beer. 

"Why did you have paper stuck to your mouth? I thought you only ate glue?"

Sunggyu answered shyly, "My sister said that I needed to eat books too. You know, because you glued paper to things. I don't know it made sense back then."

Woohyun leaned forward and poked Sunggyu in the cheek. "You're cute," he said. Sunggyu swatted his hand away and then shot him a serious glance. Woohyun immediately retracted his hand. "What's wrong?"

"Woohyun, take care of your mother," Sunggyu warned, darkening the jovial atmosphere. "I didn't. I only paid attention to my dad when he was sick and myself. I didn't see my mom suffering too. She died because of it." He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his knees.

Woohyun crawled over and wrapped his arms around him, bringing the other into a hug. He froze for a second, wandering whether this level of skinship was too sudden, but then he felt Sunggyu reciprocate the hug. Woohyun sighed, "Gyu, don't blame yourself. I'm sure it wasn't your fault. Sometimes these things just happen. There are things that are just out of our control. And it sucks." Even though he was trying to comfort his new friend, just like the story he told the kids, his words rang true for him as well. It's okay not to be in control. He was human. There was only so much that he can do. He shouldn't be making himself sick with worry for being inactive against things more powerful than himself. It was okay to admit defeat. He was okay. He pulled away and flashed a smile to Sunggyu, who smiled weakly back. "We got very serious and deep all the sudden," he said with a chuckle.

"Sorry," Sunggyu apologized. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and sheepishly explained, "I think it's because I feel like I can tell you anything. I trust you."

"You! You're making me blush," Woohyun joked, wiggling his shoulders, bringing his hands cutely to his cheeks (which were red, but it was more from the alcohol than Sunggyu's words). "I trust you too," he responded. And the funny thing was, he wasn't just returning the compliment. There was something about Sunggyu, something earnest. Woohyun felt himself gravitating towards the man naturally. Maybe it was fate that they met. "It's nice having someone to talk with."

"What about Maeri?"

"Maeri is a...poopyhead."

Sunggyu snorted causing some of the beer he was currently drinking to spray out into the air. Some of the droplets fell on Woohyun's face, but he wasn't mad and wiped his face while laughing along with his friend. "Poopyhead?" Sunggyu sputtered in between laughs. "How so?"

"She's my best friend, but as a girlfriend she suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks," Woohyun whined as he threw back his head. 

Sunggyu pouted cocking his head. "But you guys seem so good together. She called you her soul mate," he ended draining the rest of his beer and then opened another.

Woohyun laughed, making the other even more confused. "Do you want to know a secret?" Woohyun whispered loudly. Sunggyu nodded emphatically and scooched in closer. "Maeri and I are engaged because of a promise we made when we were 18 to get married if we were both single when we turned 30. Welp, we turned 30 and were single. So maybe we are soul mates. But the real secret is..." he leaned in closer to Sunggyu who widened his eyes in anticipation. "Maeri can act so much like a guy sometimes that I think that I should marry Dongwoo instead, who's a whole lot gentler."

Sunggyu nodded in agreement. "He would make a good wife. He's very cuddly."

Woohyun sighed. "I miss Dongwoo cuddle-time."

 

"Unnie!" Maeri exclaimed as she practically skipped over to the table at the restaurant where Hani was sitting. "I'm so glad that we could do this," she said as she sat down.

Hani leaned forward, resting her arms on the table. "Me too," she confessed. "I already ordered what we used to get here. You still like it right?" Maeri nodded happily. "Good! Because I've been craving it. I haven't been here since I returned home. But it wouldn't be the same without you," the older ended with a smile. She scanned her surroundings. "Man, this place hasn't changed at all."

"That's not true," Maeri began. "They got new chairs. That light fixture over there is new...And the cute waiter who used to work here is gone."

Hani pouted. "I was kinda hoping that we would run into him. I was curious to see how he would turn out." She ended bursting into giggles, and Maeri joined her. She felt as if she was in high school again, especially with them giggling about a boy that they both used to fangirl over.

"Unnie, are you still single?" Maeri asked, wanting to gossip about boys like they used to. 

Hani put down her glass after drinking from it, wiping her mouth. "Is it obvious?"

Maeri shook her head, worried that she offended her old friend. "No no. I was just wondering. Actually, I'm surprised." Maeri then put her head in her hands. "I always imagined you marrying some prince in England and live happily ever after."

"Maeri, I'll let you in on a little secret about foreign boys," the older said gesturing with her finger for Maeri to lean in closer. Hani brought her hand up to her mouth and whispered, "Guys in England are...exactly like guys in Korea." She pulled away, and Maeri pouted, having been robbed of juicy gossip. Hani giggled and shrugged. "They aren't all princes, unlike what the movies tell you. They're quite plain."

Maeri sipped on her drink loudly. She was sad to hear that. Hani was everything that she had wanted to be: smart, beautiful, charismatic. Guys used to fawn all over her in high school. Maeri somewhat worshipped her too, not in a creepy way, but like a younger sister idolizes her older sister, like Jonghyun looked up to Woohyun. She had really hoped that Hani had achieved her fairy tale ending in England, especially after what happened during her senior year. She deserved it. Looking at her now, Hani seemed like Cinderella after midnight dressed in rags, sitting on a pumpkin. Maeri knew that her prince was coming with a glass slipper at any moment. 

"Oh yea, I saw Woohyun today at the library," Hani admitted playing with the straw in her glass. "He looked really tired."

A lump formed in the back of Maeri's throat. She was well aware of Woohyun deteriorating state, and she was embarrassed to see that someone else had noticed it too. Maeri coughed, trying to clear her throat. "Actually...things haven't been going to well. His dad had a heart attack, and we've been trying to help out as much as we can," she explained with a shaky voice.

Hani took up Maeri's hand in her own. "Maeri, I'm so sorry." Then she narrowed her eyes and scanned Maeri's face. "Are you okay?"

"I'm..." Maeri began but another lump formed in the back of her throat. She coughed and tried again. "I'm..." Then she heard it. At that moment, on the radio that was playing in the background, the d.j. had decided to play "A Chance Encounter," her and Woohyun's song. Woohyun who was so mad at her that he wasn't returning her calls. Woohyun who needed her but she ran away because...she was scared. She was scared shitless. Mr. Nam was like her uncle, like family. It had killed her to see him like that. She couldn't stay in that hospital room with him for that long, and waited desperately to hear Woohyun say that they were leaving. But worse than seeing Mr. Nam in that hospital bed (after all he had been recovering well), was seeing Woohyun's perpetually worried, uncharacteristically sad face. He looked like he aged 10 years over the week. Maeri had never seen him like that before. She tried to smile, hoping that he would return it, but his frown just grew deeper. For the first time, she felt uncomfortable at his side because she did not know what to do, how to comfort and care for him in this state. All she could think was, I have to be strong for him. So she choked back the tears that were threatening to spill over on many occasions. She also felt like she had no right to cry over Mr. Nam in front of Woohyun. He wasn't her father. But now, Maeri couldn't hold them back anymore, and she broke down right then and there in front of a very confused Hani.

Unlike Maeri, Hani was a pro at consoling people. Immediately she dragged her chair over to Maeri's side and took the hysterically crying girl in her arms. Hani rested her chin on Maeri's head, and gently patted her back. "It's going to be okay," Hani cooed. "It's all going to be okay."

"No, it's not," Maeri sputtered. Her tears drenching Hani's coat. "Woohyun hates...me! I'm...I'm an awful friend. I did nothing. Nothing! I tried to be strong for him. I really tried."

Hani laughed as she stroked Maeri's hair. "Silly girl, the guy is supposed to be strong. Not the girl," she joked. "And he doesn't hate you, but he does _need_ you."

Maeri pulled away from her unnie's embrace. She sniffed and looked up at her with swollen, red eyes, "Do...do you think he still likes me?"

Hani smiled warmly as she pulled down her sleeve so that she could use it to wipe Maeri's tears. "That boy will always like you. You guys were tied to the hip in high school, and now he wants to marry you. People don't want to marry people they hate."

"But...I've been a really bad friend," Maeri said more clearly, slowly recovering from her outburst. 

Hani shrugged, "So be a better one...starting now."

Maeri was about to say something in response, but then she felt a vibration in her pocket. She pulled out her cellphone from her pocket. It was Woohyun, finally calling her back. Maybe Hani was right. Maybe she didn't ruin everything yet. Maeri stood up straight and wiped her face. "It's Woohyun."

"Go to him."

"But..." Maeri began to object but Hani cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"Go. I'll be fine. Listen to me. I'm your unnie," Hani said with such a soft yet stern expression that it reminded Maeri of a determined puppy.

Maeri quickly stood up and answered her phone, waving good bye to Hani. Once she was outside of the restaurant, she began to speak, spilling out her heart which she had kept locked up for the past week, "Sweetie, I’m glad you called. Before you say anything, I’m sorry, if I’ve been a bit distant lately. It’s just that…I’m scared. I’m scared shitless. And I really don’t know what I can do. Everything seems so out of my control. So I kind of gave up and shut down. What I trying to say is I’m so so so SO sorry that I’m such a butthead. Will you forgive me?" The other side of the line was dead silent. Maeri waited for a few more seconds, but she could still hear nothing. She looked at the phone, seeing that the call hadn't dropped yet. "...Sweetie? Woohyun are you there?"

"This is Sunggyu," he announced as if he was a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

Maeri felt her cheeks grow hot with embarrassment. "Oh my God! Sunggyu! Why did you let me go on for so long? Wait, why do you have Woohyun’s phone? Did he lose it? Where is he?" she shot rapid fire questions. 

"Hehe I didn’t get any of that," he chuckled. "You talk fast."

"Gyu!" she yelled and slowly pronounced, "Nam Woohyun…where is he?"

"Hyunnie?" he asked with his voice slightly cracking. _Hyunnie? That's new_. "Oh, he’s sleeping. Yah! Namu! You can’t sleep here," Sunggyu angrily yelled at the boy supposedly next to him.

"Five more minutes, mommy," Woohyun whined. Maeri let out a sigh of relief after hearing his voice.

"I’m not your mom, or your pillow. Get off me!" Sunggyu argued.

"Sh! Pillows don’t talk," Maeri could faintly hear Woohyun chide the man. "Hmmmm you’re so soft."

As much as Maeri was glad to at least hear the two somewhat getting along, she was growing frustrated. Apparently Sunggyu had forgotten that he was still on the phone with her. "Yah!" she spat, interrupting their bromantic quarrel.

"Maeri," Sunggyu whined, "he’s drooling on me."

"I don’t drool," Woohun argued sleepily. "My mouth is…thirsty for your love." Maeri groaned. She was very familiar with that tone of Woohyun's voice and his incoherent aegyo.

"Aish! This kid." Sunggyu cursed.

"Sunggyu, are you guys drunk?" Maeri asked, already knowing the answer.

"No…pft!" he tried to deny, but his snorting betrayed him.

"Uh huh," Maeri responded sarcastically.

"Maybe a little."

"A little?" Maeri asked with a laugh. "Do you want me to pick you up?"

"Eung."

"Where are you?"

"A restaurant," he simply answered. _Wise-ass_ , Maeri thought rolling her eyes with a smile forming on her face.

"Can you be more specific?" she asked.

"There’s food and red walls," he tried to give her more information. _Dear god, they don't even know where they are!_

"Very helpful." she retorted. 

"Ahjumma, where are we?"

 

After talking to the very patient owner of the drinking tent, Maeri finally learned about the drunken duo's whereabouts. Before picking them up, she had enlisted Dongwoo's help. She could barely handle a tipsy Woohyun on her own. She had no idea what Sunggyu would be like. Or worse, what they would be like together. After they arrived at the location, Maeri and Dongwoo saw the two, sitting at a patio set with soju bottles encircling them. Woohyun, unlike Sunggyu had lead on, was completely awake and alert. He perked up after noticing them and shook Sunggyu excitedly.

"Oh Gyu! Look! Our wives!" he announced excitedly, pointing at Maeri and Dongwoo.

"Yah!" Dongwoo yelled, complaining. "I’m no one’s wife. I’m a man!"

Sunggyu either didn't hear or chose to ignore him. "Yeobo! Take me home!" he begged stretching out his arms to his roommate.

Dongwoo immediately rushed over and cooed. "Aw! Is that my Gyugee gee? How are you feeling? Sleepy? Puke-y?" Sunkgyu had nodded cutely at every question. Dongwoo giggled and patted him on the head. "Let’s get you home."

While Dongwoo was caring for his roommate, Maeri strode to Woohyun's side and knelt down, gripping onto the armrest of his chair. Her face was leveled with his. She smiled while brushing stray bangs from his eyes. "Look who rallied. Sunggyu made it sound like you passed out."

"Just a little nappy nap," he sheepishly admitted.

"Good," Maeri declared. "because now I don’t have to drag you out of here. Now let’s get you up. Can you stand?"

Woohyun nodded emphatically. "For you," he said while tapping the tip of her nose. "I’d stand on the tallest mountain, on a boat in the middle of the sea. I’d stand on the moon!"

"Oooookay, I’ll take that as a yes," Maeri spoke. Whenever Woohyun got tipsy, his words grew cheesier, but they also didn't make sense. While Maeri was still puzzling over his aegyo, Woohyun suddenly stood up, but his legs weren't exactly cooperating causing him to stumble. Maeri immediately took him into her arms. Woohyun smiled and put both of his arms on her shoulders, using her to keep his balance. Maeri gasped slightly. They hadn't been this close to each other in days (which was mostly her fault). She felt her cheeks grow hot. She averted her gaze and turned to Dongwoo. "Dongwoo, how’s it going with Sunggyu?"

"I’d be fine, if he’d actually tried to stand," Dongwoo slightly complained. He was struggling to hold up his roommate who was completely slumped him his arms. It looked as if Dongwoo was struggling with a large buttery noodle that kept slipping from his grasp.

Sunggyu looked over to Maeri with large, worried eyes. "My legs don’t work," he explained.

"Oh no, honey! He can’t walk!" Woohyun exclaimed, genuinely concerned for his drinking buddy. "Gyu are you parapa…parapa….crippled?" he sputtered.

Maeri rolled her eyes and tried to bring some semblance of reason back into the situation. "No someone’s just being lazy. See look," she declared and tried to demonstrate it by kicking Sunggyu in his shin. 

"Ow! Your wife is mean," he whined pointing accussingly at Woohyun. Then he turned to Dongwoo and smiled warmly, "Mine is nicer." Maeri frowned and looked at Woohyun, expecting him to object but saw him nodding in agreement. Maeri tsked and ruffled his hair in annoyance. 

"Hehe I make a better wife than you," Dongwoo teased while sticking out his tongue to Maeri. Then he turned his attention back to his roommate. "Don’t worry. I’ll carry you," he gently spoke as he lifted Sunggyu onto his back and left the tent.  

Maeri looked at Woohyun who was now smiling at her cheekily. She could read his little drunken mind. "Nope don’t even think about it," she warned him, but he didn't heed it and turned into jelly into her arms, acting like Sunggyu did just moments before.

"Honey! Carry me!" he begged with Maeri barely lifting him up from the floor.

"Nope. No way. Come on stand up," she urged him, trying to desperately prop him back onto his feet, but Woohyun was adamant.

His eyes grew sad and he looked down at the ground. "I knew that I should’ve married Dongwoo instead," he softly confessed.

Guilt racked her heart. His sad expression was once again unbearable for her to see. And so she gave in and turned around, "Fine. Get on my back."

Woohyun's "weak" legs found enough strength to jump on her back. "Yay! Giddy up!" he commanded as his heels dug into her side, goading her as if she was a horse. Maeri laughed, happy to see his playful side emerge once again. She could feel the vibrations from his chuckles on her back and his smiling cheeks brush against his ear. She wanted to keep him this happy, forever. So she neighed and galloped outside of the tent.

Once outside, they saw Dongwoo and Sunggyu make their way to Dongwoo's car. "Bye! Be safe!" Maeri wished them.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Kim!" Woohyun shouted from her back. He waved at them.

"Hey! I thought that we were going to take my last name," Dongwoo complained to his roommate.

Sunggyu shook his head. "Nope. Kim is better than Jang."

Dongwoo finally reached his car and opened up the passanger side door. "But Jang is more unique. Everybody is a Kim," he argued.

Sunggyu crawled into the seat. "Including you now! _Kim_ Dongwoo!" he teased. Dongwoo just laughed and shook his head as he closed the door. And with a final wave to Woohyun and Maeri, he climbed into the driver's seat and drove off.

Maeri then began to walk over to her car. She could feel Woohyun's hot breath tickle her ear. "Maeri! Honey! Wife-y!" he called out.

"Hm?"

"You’re my best friend," he confessed and tightened his hold on her neck, still being careful not to choke her. He pressed his cheek against hers.

Maeri gasped in mock shock, "Now do you like me more than Dongwoo?"

"I can’t do this with Dongwoo," he said giving her a sloppy kiss on her cheek. 

"Well, I hope you don’t. Or else I’d have to get a new husband," she joked. Woohyun giggled like a little school girl and buried his face in the crook of her neck. "What?" Maeri curiously asked.

"You called me your husband," he said quietly. For the first time since the engagement, and after the several times that he referred to her as his wife, she finally called him her husband. To Woohyun, it felt good to hear it. It warmed his heart in a way he didn't expect. He wanted to hear her say it again and again, but from the embarrassed look on her face, she wasn't going to anytime soon.

"Well, aren’t you basically?" she tried to dismiss it. They finally reached the car, and he fished the car keys from her coat and unlocked the vehicle.

"Eung. And you’re my wife," he said cutely as Maeri put him into the car and buckled him in. Woohyun looked at a stranger who was getting into the car next to him. He pointed to Maeri who was still struggling with the buckle (it would have been  easier if Woohyun stopped squirming like a toddler). "She’s my wife!" he loudly bragged to the stranger.

"Buzz off!" he angrily responded with a slam of his car door.

"He wasn’t very nice," Woohyun said to Maeri, slightly hurt.

Maeri smiled. "He’s just jealous," she guessed. Then she gently shut the passenger door, walked over to the other side, and slid into the driver's seat.

Woohyun nodded and made a popping noise with his lips. Then he fell into a rant, :"Right because I’m married, and he’s a sad, lonely man. With no one to love. All alone in his house. Everybody else he knows is married with kids. But not him! Nope, he’s allllllllllllll alone. I bet he has cats, 20 of them, and they’re all female. And they’re names are like: Buttercup, Jolie, Miranda Kerr, Crab Ragoon,Suzy, Naeun, Bomi, Eunji, Chorong…"

"Okay now you’re just naming Apink members," Maeri joked, shooting him a glance glance before turning her attention back onto the road.

Woohyun leaned his head back against to headrest and rolled over onto his side, staring at Maeri. He smiled sheepishly and softly giggled, "I forgot what I was talking about."

"I did too." she admitted. Maeri looked over at Woohyun again. He was still staring at her. His smile had fallen off of his face again. Maeri looked back at the road and gulped, trying to fight against the lump forming in her throat. "Hyunnie, I’m really really sorry."

"Maeri, don’t…don’t leave me alone again," he pleaded looking at her with shining eyes. 

"I’m sorry that I made you feel alone in the first place," her voice softly spoke. "I love you." She should have told him more often.

"I love…" he began, but his voice drifted off.

"Hm?"

"Cake," he finished.

Maeri furrowed her brows in confusion, and she looked over at Woohyun, who had closed his eyes, and his breathing became more shallow. "Aish! Hey! Don’t fall asleep. Don’t you dare fall asleep, Nam Woohyun. I’m not carrying you up those stairs," she demanded, shaking his shoulder, trying to stir him out of his slumber.

But it was all for naught. Woohyun was dead asleep. Maeri grumbled as she pulled into their apartment complex (she had decided earlier not to return back to his parents' house, like they had been down, thinking his mom would not appreciate seeing a sloppy drunk son). She knew what she had to do, and she already could feel her back aching already. Once again, she pulled Woohyun onto her back and climbed the two flights of stairs to their apartment (while taking short breaks in between to catch her breath and to gather her strength). Once she entered the apartment, she gently laid him onto the bed. She looked at him, panting and satisfied with the feat of strength he just had accomplished. But then she frowned, realizing she was not yet finished. She knelt at the foot of the bed where his feet were hanging over. She carefully untied his shoes and took them off. Then with a grimace, she took off his stinky and sweaty socks and threw them over her shoulder, not caring where they landed.

Then she got up and walked over to the bathroom. She returned to his side with a damp washcloth. She carefully dabbed the sweat and grime from the day off from his face. He began to stir and Maeri was afraid that she woke him up. But he just smacked his lips and turned over onto his side. Maeri sighed in relief and stood up. She stared at his sleeping form, and a smile crept on her face. Then she froze. Woohyun was still in his work clothes. Maeri was now faced with a dilemma. Does she change him out of his clothes and suffer him inevitably calling her a pervert in the morning? Or does she watch him sleep uncomfortably with a belt digging into his side and a tie almost strangling his neck? Maeri groaned as she crawled onto the bed. She was going to get an earful from him the next morning.

Undressing an unconscious Woohyun was like undressing a rag doll, easier than she had expected. But she still felt as if she was crossing some boundary that she shouldn't have. At one point in time, she caught a glance of herself in the mirror. Her face was as red as a cherry. After taking off his button down shirt, the last article of clothing, Maeri rolled him onto his back. She sighed and laid down next to him

"Hmmm. Cute," she hummed as she looked at his peaceful face. She bit her lower lip, feeling a pang of guilt again. She should have been taking care of him like this all of the time, and when he was conscious so that he could witness how much she did care for him. "I’m sorry," she whispered her confession. "I was a very bad friend. I promise to be better. Good night." She ended by delivering a soft kiss on his lips.

She should have stopped there, but she was always so curious why dramas had those scenes of a girl laying by the side of her sleeping lover, and she would trace the features of his face with the tips of her fingers. Maeri could finally act it out and see what all the fuss was about. She started by moving his long bangs from his eyes, then her fingers traced the bridge of his sharp nose. As her thumb brushed against his plump lower lip, his eyes snapped wide open, and he opened his mouth and bit her thumb with a growl.

"Aaaah!" Maeri screamed as she fell off of the bed. Then her head suddenly popped up over the edge of the bed, and she pointed at him. "You! You were awake this whole time."

"Yep,' he admitted proudly. "And you just can't keep your hands off of me, can you?" Maeri buried her face in the sheets. "You think I'm cute!" he teased.

"So what?" she mumbled into the sheets. "You're cute and you know it."

Woohyun could barely believe his ears. Maeri had basically admitted that she thought he was cute. He chuckled and opened his arms. "Come over here," he politely commanded. Maeri slowly climbed back onto the bed and scooted into Woohyun's arms. As she got closer, he pulled her in the rest of the way. "I forgive you." he said as she nuzzled into his chest.

"Really?" she mumbled against his chest. He could feel her voice vibrating against his skin. 

"Well," he said. Maeri pulled back and stared at him curiously. "If you do something for me."

"I'll do anything," she began and then looked at him sternly, "within reason."           

"Let's play _the_ game."

Maeri winced. His request was within reason, but she had promised herself to never play the game ever again, especially how things turned out last time. But as she looked up at her friend who was now pleading at her with large puppy dog eyes, she realized that she owed this to him. "Okay."

"Aaand," Woohyun began, shimming his shoulders. He knew that he was pushing his luck, but he decided to go for it anyway.

"And?"

 "Can I be the little spoon?" he asked.

"Fine," Maeri gave in for what seemed to be the thousandth time for her tonight.

Woohyun immediately flipped around, and Maeri placed her arm underneath his neck. He nuzzeled against it. Maeri brought her chest flush against his back. Woohyun hummed, "I missed this."

Maeri hid her smile in his black hair. "I did too."


	13. "I dare you" (age 18)

The game was born from two incredibly bored, teenage minds over a very slow weekend. Maeri’s parents had left with Jonghyun in tow to visit her grandparents down south in Daegu. She was forced to stay behind because of school and because she had an important soccer game (well, maybe not forced. Maeri completely refused to miss either, even for family). But she wasn’t entirely alone. Her parents had ordered Woohyun to keep her company and to watch over her, but Maeri ended up watching over him and keeping him in line instead.

“Nam Woohyun! How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t juggle in the house! Gosh! I swear you’re like a five year-old!” Maeri reprimanded as she tore the soccer ball away from her friend who was trying to bounce it on his thighs.

“And you’re like my mother,” he complained scrunching his face. “Now give me back my ball. I’m  bored.” He tried to take his ball back, but Maeri quickly hid it behind her back.

“If you’re so bored, why don’t you just go home or hang out with Seungho and Hyunsuk?” Maeri said as she struggled to keep the ball away from Woohyun, who was practically running circles around her, trying to get it back. She ended up sitting on it like a mama bird on an egg, and Woohyun finally relented.

“But your parents told me to take care of you while they’re gone,” he answered between pants, having gotten tired out chasing Maeri around. “I’m the man of the house now.”

Maeri rolled her eyes. Even back then, both of their parents weren’t so subtle. The four scheming elders dreamed of Maeri and Woohyun marrying each other one day since their freshman year. Maeri swore that this weekend away was just another one of her parents attempts to inspire “love” between the two teenagers. But all Maeri felt now was annoyance. She knew that there were times when Woohyun was restless, always moving and never stopping just for one second until he literally passed out from exhaustion. Yes, she knew all about it, but she didn’t always tolerate it. Just watching him move around like an electron in an electron cloud made her tired, as if he was draining her of her energy and using it right in front of her. She sighed. Now after being deprived of his ball, Woohyun focused his energy bouncing impatiently on the balls of his feet and swaying his arms in a circle. “Some man you are,” she scoffed. “Don’t you still sleep with a teddy bear?”

Woohyun gasped and pointed warningly at her, “Don’t bring Timmy into this! He’s more than just a bear. He’s family.” He ended with a chuckle, not being able to take his own words seriously. Maeri fought back a smile as she rolled back on the ball she was sitting on. “Come on, we both know that you don’t really want me to leave. You’ll get lonely without me,” he stated, shimming his shoulders for emphasis.

“I’m not _that_ bad! I can be alone,” she argued with a smile breaking out onto her face.

Woohyun stared at her incredulously. “When I went to the bathroom five minutes ago, you turned on the t.v. because you couldn’t stand the silence,” he reminded her. He saw Maeri bite her lip and bow her head. She was embarrassed that what he said was true, that he had caught her. And that was the main reason why Woohyun felt compelled to obey the Yoos and stay with Maeri for the weekend; Maeri tried to act strong and independent, but in actuality she needed more care and help than she wanted to admit. It didn’t mean that she would ever accept being babied. You had to care for her subtly and almost from a distance, and when all else failed, you would practically have to force help down her throat, which Woohyun was doing right now. No matter how much she was going to insist that she was fine, Woohyun wasn’t going to budge…metaphorically, because in actuality he was still moving around anxiously in her living room.

“Come on, Maeri. Play with me,” he begged.

“Play what?” she asked looking up at him with her head in her hands.

Woohyun pouted his lips in thought and stared up at the ceiling. After a few moments a naughty smile crept onto his face and he looked back down at Maeri. “Truth or dare,” he suggested, raising his eyebrows.

Maeri giggled, “Truth or dare? Are we having a slumber party?”

“Actually, we sort of are. Your parents told me to stay the night too,” he replied quietly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Maeri shook her head. Her parents’ were unbelievable. What other parents besides her own (or those in dramas) would encourage a teenage boy and girl to spend the whole night alone together? Woohyun was probably just going to sleep on the couch, but still. “Fine,” she gave into both her parents and Woohyun’s request. “But don’t we already know everything about each other? The truth part won’t be  fun.”

“Then how about just the dares,” he said, and then he kicked the ball out from underneath Maeri, causing herself to crash down onto the ground. He quickly picked up the ball and ran into the next room and away from the impending wrath of a sore Maeri.

* * *

The rules of the game were simple. Each of them had five dares which the other had to fulfill, no questions asked. But, of course, there were unspoken rules between them. They knew each other well enough to know what they could or could not dare each other. But it still allowed for a lot of room for Woohyun’s creativity and mischievousness to flourish, much to Maeri’s dismay.

“Do it. I dare you,” he demanded.

Maeri gulped. She was face-to-face with quiet possibly the biggest worm that she had ever seen in her life, and Woohyun wanted her to eat it. He also went through great lengths to find this little “gem.” He had dirt up to his elbows from digging in the soil of her mom’s garden. Maeri watched it carefully as he was dangling it in front of her face. “Are you chicken?” he teased, trying to goad her into action. It worked. Maeri grabbed the worm from his grasp and quickly shoved it into her mouth.

“No, but it tastes like chicken,” she said in between retches. Woohyun was disgusted as he looked at Maeri chewing with her mouth wide-open, looking as if she would throw up at any moment.

“Really?”

“No!” she admitted suddenly covering her mouth and running back into her house.

When Woohyun met up with Maeri in her house, she was washing out her mouth in the sink, savagely scraping her tongue to remove the horrid taste. She then grabbed a glass of water and began to gargle, hoping it would help. Woohyun laughed as he watched his friend struggle to not throw up. He gently shoved her to the side as he approached the sink and began to wash his hands. His arms were still caked in dirt. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Maeri walk to her fridge and pour some juice into her glass, trying anything to rid the taste from her mouth. She lifted the bottle of juice in his direction and asked, “Are you thirsty?”

Woohyun wiped his hands on a cloth and went to grab the bottle. “Yes, tha-“

She tore the bottle away and quickly put it back into the fridge. “Not so fast,” she said cheekily. “I dare you—“

* * *

A few moments later, Woohyun found himself on his hands and knees in front of the toilet, staring at his own reflection in the water spinning in the ceramic bowl. He gnawed on his lower lip, hesitating, and his stomach began to gurgle in repulsion. _Out of all the things she could have asked me to do_ …He slowly lifted up the toilet seat and furled his tongue from his mouth. He lowered his head towards the water, but pulled himself back. He shot Maeri one last, pleading glance, the cutest one he could muster. But she was unfazed, staring at him as she leaned on the doorframe. She smiled and shook her head.

“I dared you, Hyunnie. You have to do it,” Maeri reminded him. She then approached him and patted his head roughly. “You always reminded me of a dog. And now you can drink from the toilet like one.” Instead of retorting with an equally snarky comment, Woohyun decided to play along, creating paw like fists and whimpering like a sad, abandoned puppy. He hoped his aegyo would charm her and get her to change her mind. Maeri just laughed and dug her knuckles into his head. “Shut up and do it already! You shouldn’t have made me eat that worm,” she said.

Woohyun let out another whimper as he turned his head back towards the toilet. It’s clean, Woohyun. _It’s just like any water you can get from the tap. Except for I don’t really drink from the tap. Stop it! Stop stalling. Just get it over with!_ He plunged his head into the bowl and began to lap up the water with his tongue.

Maeri couldn’t believe her eyes and stood there slightly stunned until she came back to reality a few seconds later. She giggle and patted Woohyun on the back. “That’s a good boy,” she cooed mockingly.

Woohyun took it as a cue that he fulfilled his dare. He pulled his head from the toilet and looked at Maeri with narrowed eyes as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Maeri, you just realized you upped the ante, right?” he warned her.

“I-I did?” she stuttered, slightly backing away from Woohyun as he was crawling towards her on all fours.

“Oh yea,” he responded cheekily and then barked at her, chasing her out of the bathroom.

* * *

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Maeri’s voice was shaking and her fingers trembling. “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” she repeated. She slowly grabbed the steering wheel in front of her. They were both sitting in Boohyun’s car (he came home from college for the weekend), and Woohyun (God! She hated him now) dared her to steal it. She didn’t even have her driver’s license. She didn’t even the first thing about driving. And to make it worse, she couldn’t even reach the pedals, her legs being a good 3 inches shorter than Boohyun’s. Maeri’s bottom was hanging off the edge as she was clutching onto the wheel for dear life.

Woohyun rolled his eyes and adjusted the seat for her, not able to bear the sight of her driving like a grandmother. “Come on, hurry up!” he whined. “I’m getting hungry. We’re just going over to the burger joint. It’s not like we’re running away to Busan. We’ll be back before you know it.” He tried to encourage her. His stomach was caving in on itself, and they have been sitting in the driveway for a good 10 minutes with Maeri freaking out.

The tension in her shoulders began to loosen, probably because she was in a more comfortable position. She turned to him and said in a grave tone, “If we get pulled over by the police, I’m pushing you into the driver’s seat.” She then brought her shaky hand holding the keys and put them into the ignition. A few seconds later, the engine began purring.

Woohyun sighed in relief. Food was only a few minutes away. “If you just calm down, we won’t get pulled over,” he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She exhaled loudly, but her body was shaking more violently than ever with nervous energy.

“How do you start this thing anyway?” she asked looking all over the consol. Then she grabbed a shift next to the steering wheel and flipped it upwards. The windshield wipers began to scrap across the glass, producing a loud and long squeak.

Woohyun chuckled at her ignorance. Who didn’t know where the gear shift was in the car? “Not like that. I think it’s this,” he said, gripping the gear shift and putting it into gear. He heard Maeri murmur some words of thanks. “Now just gently press the gas,” he commanded as gently as possible lest his friend started to shake again. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Maeri’s leaden foot pressed harder onto the pedal than she had intended, and the two of them were jerked back as the car quickly backed up. Over their startled screams, there was a clear crunching noise. “Shit! What was that?” Maeri asked, closing her eyes tightly, too afraid to look herself.

Woohyun slowly turned around and saw a crumpled up black heap just inches behind the vehicle. He exhaled in relief. “Just the trash can. No big.” Then as he shifted his gaze away from the decimated trash can, his eyes fell on a large figure barreling towards them. “HOLY CRAP!”

“What? It wasn’t a trash can,” Maeri turned to face Woohyun who was now cowering underneath the glove compartment. Her heart picked up its already fast pace.

“No, it’s Boohyun. He’s coming over this way,” he whispered through his teeth.

Maeri glanced in the review mirror, and sure enough, Boohyun was stomping towards them with a large scowl on his face. “Crap!” she exclaimed as she ducked down.

But Woohyun didn’t let her stay down for long. He pulled the both of them up and yelled, “Drive. Drive! DRIVE!”  He put the car into drive, and Maeri stepped on the gas. The wheels squealed on the pavement as the car shot down the street, leaving a very angry Boohyun in its dust.

* * *

“How long do I have to stay in here?” Woohyun’s voice was muffled. After finally arriving at the burger joint, Maeri dared Woohyun to get into the trunk of the car and she shut it on him. She wasn’t going to leave him there for long, just long enough to plan out what they were going to do once they get back home, without any noisy interruptions from Woohyun. “It’s stuffy and dark,” she could hear him whine underneath her (she was sitting on the trunk).

“Forever! I am SO grounded when I get home,” she said in an exasperated voice, her head buried deep in her hands.

She heard a few soft knocks beneath her. “It smells weird in here. I don’t like it. I really don’t like it,” his voice was shaking. “Can I come out now?”

Maeri hopped off of the trunk. “Yea, the five minutes is up anyway,” she said as she lifted the latch and popped the trunk. After opening it, she saw Woohyun for the first time in 5 minutes, but she would’ve sworn that it looked like 5 years. Woohyun was pale, sweating, and panting. Distress was all over his face. “Woah! Hyunnie, are you okay?” Maeri was scared; she had never seen him like this before.

“I don’t like small spaces,” his voice was weak. He quickly got out of the trunk, but his arms were shaking as they tried to lift him out. Saying that he didn’t ‘like’ small spaces was a serious understatement. He hated them, loathed them…was deathly terrified of them.  It had started when he was in pre-school and his brother thought it would be funny to lock him into his toy chest, saying that Woohyun was his ‘toy.’ His parents didn’t think it was funny when Woohyun had a panic attack after being locked in the hot, stuffy chest for an hour. Boohyun was grounded for a month and felt so bad after realizing what might have happened (he was young too and didn’t know much better) that he had treated Woohyun incredibly well, for only a month. After that he returned to his normal older brother lovingly antagonizing ways.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Maeri reprimanded as she helped him to steady himself. He was practically hanging onto her at this point, lifeless.  She couldn’t help but to pat his head. “I guess we don’t know everything about each other,” she joked.  But Woohyun was still unresponsive, still hanging around her neck. Maeri’s guilt was building higher and higher by the second. “I’ll buy you a burger.”

He looked up at her. “And a shake?”

“And a shake.”

Woohyun smiled and immediately let go of her. “Deal! No take-back!” he yelled as he sprinted off towards the restaurant. Maeri stood there with her hands in her pockets, wondering if her friend had just taken advantage of her guilt and her wallet. She shook her head and then ran after him. He probably deserved it anyway.

* * *

“You hungry, Maeri?”

“Starved,” she happily answered, carefully unwrapping the burger in front of her, two beef patties of mouth-watering goodness. Right as she was about to bring it to her mouth, Woohyun blocked the burger from entering her mouth.

“Great. Because it’s time for payback,” he said cheekily. “I dare you to stuff the whole burger in your mouth at once.”

“The whole thing?” Maeri’s eyes were practically popping out of her skull.

“We both know that you already have a big mouth,” he retorted.  In fact, he’s never seen a girl that could eat like Maeri. At times she could out eat him, and more messily too. “Now stop stalling and start stuffing.”

Maeri pouted. She had been looking forward to eating this burger like a normal human being, savoring every last bite. But when she looked up at Woohyun and saw the color slowly returning back on his face, staring back at her in anticipation, she knew that she owed this to him…and she had to follow through with the game. Damn her guilt and damn this game. She crammed the burger in her mouth with an angry grunt as her cheeks stretched as far as they could to accommodate the food mass. “Appy?” she sputtered, spitting food particles onto her friend’s face.

Woohyun winced and wiped the spittle from his face. “I have never been so turned off by a girl in my entire life,” he said honestly, shaking his head. Maeri was chewing with her mouth wide open. He could see the food roll around in her mouth, being spun by her pink tongue. _Gross. How is she even a girl?_ It was no wonder why she hadn’t had a boyfriend yet.

“Yo ff-ault,” she forced the words out of her mouth. She now covered the opening after seeing how she spat all over Woohyun. _He sort of deserved it._

“Just swallow,” he said, taking a bite from his own burger. Maeri finally closed her mouth and tried to force the gluey mass down her esophagus. She swallowed hard, and she could feel it painfully traveling down her throat, until it suddenly stopped. The food adhered to the sides, blocking the path. Maeri started to cough to dislodge it but it wasn’t working. “Maeri, quit joking,” Woohyun brushed her off. But she didn’t stop, and panic appeared on her face. “Maeri??” he called out to her as he slid next to her in the booth. He pulled her hair out of her face and began to pat her back. With a weird, strangled cough, Maeri was able to clear her throat finally and began to signal to her friend that she was fine now.  “Are you okay?” Woohyun asked as he wiped her mouth with several napkins because there was no way one napkin could handle the mess of condiments and crumbs all over her face..

Maeri pulled away from him, not wanting to be babied. “Fine. Can you hand me my drink?” she asked with a weak voice pointing to the drink next to him. He sighed and handed it to her. “Thanks,”  she coughed.

“Sh. Stop talking,” he reprimanded. _Idiot, your throat still hurts don’t force it_. Woohyun looked at her guzzling down the drink with a pained look on her face.

“I’m okay. I’m okay,” she insisted after swallowing hard. Woohyun doubted it. Then he felt her forcing him out of the booth, his butt sliding across the plastic vinyl. “I gotta go to the bathroom. I feel like I’m a mess,” she announced.

“You _are_ a mess,” he agreed staring at her chin painted red and yellow from the condiments. For that comment, Maeri punched him in the bicep as she passed him on her way to the bathroom. Woohyun laughed. Not only did she eat like a dude, but she hit like one too.

* * *

After returning from the bathroom, Maeri looked somewhat presentable again, and Woohyun was finished with his meal. And because of Maeri’s near death experience, they forgot all about Boohyun and the crumpled trash can that they had left behind. Boohyun was sitting on the said trash can, in a pose that you would expect from a gangster in a movie. Woohyun, being the good friend he was, was entirely prepared to throw Maeri under the bus as he hid underneath the glove compartment again.

But Maeri could not be bothered with Woohyun’s betrayal because Boohyun was currently glaring at her with a deadly gaze. “O-oppa!” she stuttered as stepped out of the car. “You’re back from college!” she exclaimed as cutely as she could, running up to Boohyun with open arms and giving him a big hug.

Boohyun chuckled condescendingly. “And you’re committing a felony,” he scoffed. He peeled Maeri off of him. He stared back at his car. “Woohyun, I know you’re in the car.” Woohyun’s brother wasn’t an idiot. He knew the one and only reason why normally innocent Maeri would ever steal his car was if his sneaky little brother was involved.

“Hey hyung,” Woohyun sheepishly gave himself up, crawling out of the car. “Are you going to tell on us?” he decided to just ask his brother outright and braced himself for the worst.

“Tattling is for little kids. I’m an adult now,” Boohyun said coolly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. Woohyun felt a proud smile appear on his face. His brother was so cool. “I blackmail,” Boohyun finished, and Woohyun’s smiled quickly morphed into a frown. His brother sucked.

“You guys really are brothers,” Maeri muttered under her breath.

“What do you want?” Woohyun asked his brother with sad eyes, begging him to be gentle.

Boohyun stroked his chin, once again taking up the persona of a mobster. Woohyun rolled his eyes at his brother’s antics, whereas Maeri was praying for mercy. “Do my laundry for 3 months,” Boohyun concluded.

Maeri leaned over and harshly whispered into Woohyun’s ear,  “Do it. I’ll help you out. We can’t get grounded. We’re going to the amusement park next weekend.” Woohyun turned and saw her worried expression. _Right, the group date just so Maeri can fawn over stupid Kim Myungsoo. And she says that I’m not a good friend_.

“You better,” he whispered back. He faced his brother. “It’s a deal, hyung.”

Boohyun walked up and shook his brother’s hand firmly. “Woohyun, pleasure doing business with you,”  his tone was serious. He then turned to Maeri and ruffled her hair.  “Maeri, good to see you again.” With a salute, he reentered his house.

Maeri’s jaw dropped and exchanged glances with Woohyun. “Is it just me, or has oppa gotten weirder?”

Woohyun shrugged as they walked back to her house. “I guess that’s what college does to you,” he answered.

Maeri gazed downwards at the pavement. “D-do you think that we’ll change?”

“Probably,” he responded without a thought, opening the door for her.

“Yea you’re right,” she admitted with a sad giggle. She stepped inside her home. “It would be impossible not to.”

That’s when it finally hit Woohyun. _She…she’s worried about us. Whether we’d drift apart_. For the first time in four years, they’ll spend more than a day apart once they get to college. They might even go weeks or months without seeing each other. They’ll be having different experiences with different people. Will that make them different?

“Right, “ Woohyun began as he plopped down on the couch. “We’ll become more mature. We’ll become adults.” Maeri sat next to him, shoulders hunched with sadness. He put her arms around her and drew her next to him. “But it doesn’t mean we won’t stop being friends. We’ll change, but we’ll change together. And who knows, maybe your boobs will finally come in,” he joked.

Maeri flicked him in the head, causing him to yelp loudly. “Yea and maybe you’ll finally grow a brain,” she retorted, a smile finally appearing again on her face.

* * *

“Finally, a dare that I like,” Woohyun said excitedly, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

Maeri propped her arms on the island and cocked her head. “You really like lying, don’t you?”

“It’s called acting,” he corrected her as he took a seat next to her. “And I’m good at it.”

Maeri wasn’t about to argue with Woohyun’s ‘acting’ abilities. She’s seen him convince more than one teacher that he couldn’t finish his homework because he was busy attending to his ailing grandmother (and both of his grandmothers had passed away before he was even born). She took the phone behind her off the hook and handed it to him. “Whatever, just call her already,” she commanded. Woohyun began to input the phone number. “This is going to be good. Youngha is going to FLIP. She likes Hyunsuk more than anything. Those two are practically obsessed with each other. They’re such a cute couple. I can’t imagine what she’s going to say when you pretend to confess,” she squealed, getting caught up in their dare to prank call one of their close friends. Okay so technically a girlfriend of their close friend Hyunsuk, but Youngha had almost flawlessly assimilated herself in their tight-knit group of fun.

“Shhhh!” Woohyun shushed closing her lips tightly between his thumb and forefinger. She immediately pulled away and rubbed her sore lips. He smiled at her frowning face. Finally he heard someone pick on on the other end. “Oh, is Youngha there? Yes, I’ll wait.” Maeri was giggling like a maniac next to him. “Yah, stop giggling. You’re going to give us away.” Maeri pursed her lips and pretended to zip and lock them shut. Woohyun then grabbed the imaginary key from her and ate it, ending with a pat on his belly. Maeri once again snorted, and so Woohyun had no other choice but to cover her mouth with his hand. She knocked it away as she brought her head next to his so that she could listen through the receiver.

“Hello?” a sweet voice echoed from the other end.

“Youngha. It’s Woohyun,” Woohyun said in what he thought was a charming voice, but to Maeri it reeked of grease.

“Hey Woohyun? What’s up?” Youngha chirped. “Is this about the group date next weekend? I am SO excited. Aren’t you?”

“Yea, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” he responded. He then felt a sharp elbow in his side. He was slowly entering casual conversation and so Maeri was urging him on. But all Woohyun could get from the nudge was a sharp pain in his side. “Ow!” he yelped.

“Huh? What was that? Are you okay?”  Youngha sounded genuinely worried.

“Ow! No it’s my heart. It hurts,” he said in a strangled voice, gripping his heart. Maeri gave him a thumbs up for a decent transition into the prank.

Youngha, however, began to flip out, screaming on the other end, causing Woohyun to hold the phone inches away from his ear. “Oh my gawd! Woohyun! What’s wrong? Should I call for an ambulance?”

“No. It’s aches…for you,” his voice deep and thick with grease.

“Huh?” Youngha gasped. She began to nervously sputter. “Woohyun…what are you trying to say?”

Woohyun could feel Maeri gripping tightly on his wrist, trying hard to control herself, but tiny little squeaks snuck from her pursed lips. In spite of that, he still did not break character. With a lovesick sigh he ‘confessed,’ “Youngha, I think I like you.

“OH MY GAWD! OH MY GAWD!” Youngha screeched. The two friends jumped back from the phone with pained expressions. Youngha continued to flip out, “You’re lying. Tell me your lying. Please. Because if you’re telling the truth-“

Woohyun began chuckling. He wagered that the joke went far enough and was about to show his hand, “Don’t worry—“

“I like you too,” Youngha interrupted him. Woohyun’s jaw dropped, and Maeri froze at his side. Youngha completely unaware, carried out her own confession, “I knew we had a connection. That’s why I started dating Hyunsuk so that we could get closer to one another. Woohyun, I’ve had a crush on you since freshman year. I knew that after you got to know me that you would like me back. I just knew it!”

Hearing enough, Maeri ripped the phone away from Woohyun’s hands. She yelled into the receiver, “YOUNGHA! What about Hyunsuk?!” She was practically seething. Her loyalty lied with Hyunsuk, and not only that, but this girl was trying use Hyunsuk to get with Woohyun, _her_ Woohyun.

“Mae-maeri?” Youngha stammered.

“Ummm…got you?” Woohyun managed to say with a weak and unsure voice.

Youngha panicked. “This was a joke? A prank?”

“Yes,” the friends said in unison. Maeri immediately regretted coming up with this prank. All she wanted was for Youngha in her cute, helium voice to cuss out Woohyun, but not this, never this.

After a long pause Youngha broke out into an obviously fake and nervous laugh. She stammered and tried to fruitlessly defend herself, “ I knew it. I knew you were joking. I got you back. I-I was lying too. Can’t trick me that easily. Hahaha. Please, please, PLEASE, don’t tell Hyunsuk anything I said.”

“Uh huh..okay bye,” Woohyun barely paid attention to her plea and hung up the phone. He then faced Maeri with wide eyes.

“Alright, that’s the last time we ever make a joke like that,” Maeri concluded as she melted onto the countertop, sprawling out.  “We should probably tell Hyunsuk that his ‘girlfriend’ is using him to get to you. Guess she won’t be coming with us to the group date after all,” she ended with a groan. Now they had to comfort Hyunsuk and find a replacement for their group date, a decent rebound for their friend.

“Yea, and you can make that phone call,” he said, getting up from his seat.

“Me?” Maeri objected.

“Yep, your dare. Your mess,” Woohyun declared as he left the room after putting the phone in her hands.

Maeri stared at the phone blankly for a few seconds. She hated conversations like these the most. And Hyunsuk was a crier. “B-but what if he cries?” she mumbled.

* * *

Maeri tossed a pillow and a blanket onto the couch. “And this is where you’ll be sleeping,” she said coldly. She was peeved at Woohyun. She was on the phone with Hyunsuk for an hour as he cried over Youngha’s deceit. The only way she could comfort him was by promising that her friend, Yerim, a burgeoning beauty queen, would be Youngha’s replacement for the group date. After that, his tears cleared up quickly, and she was left cursing herself for not bringing up Yerim sooner.

Woohyun poked at the couch and looked at her with sad eyes. “But it’s lumpy,” he whined. Not only that, but it was a good two inches shorter than his body, meaning he could not lay out properly.

Maeri crossed her arms. “You can always go to your house and sleep in your own nice, not lumpy bed,” she argued.

Woohyun reluctantly sat on the couch. It felt as bad as it looked. Its aging springs were poking into his butt and were groaning under his weight. His own bed was looking tempting right about now, but he couldn’t forget the reason why he was here in the first place. He had promised the Yoos that he would watch over Maeri, easily frightened, extremely superstitious Maeri. “But then I would be abandoning my duties as the man of the house,” he stated.

“Man of the house?” Maeri scoffed. “Seems archaic.”

“But what if an intruder comes in the middle of the night? Or worse,” Woohyun paused dramatically, knowing how to win her over. “What if your dead great-grandmother starts haunting you again?” He vividly remembered that night she crawled in through his bedroom window claiming that her grandmother was haunting her room (she had inherited a chest from the woman and believed that her soul was attached to it).

“F-fine. You can stay,” she stuttered, sitting next to him. She suddenly started to have shivers crawling up her skin, feeling paranoid. Woohyun’s presence slightly warming her chilled skin.

“Not on this couch.”

Maeri was confused. “I thought you said-“

“Yoo Maeri, I dare you to tuck me into your bed!”

* * *

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Maeri lamented as she tucked her green flannel sheets  under Woohyun’s squirming body, causing the sheets to become loose and forcing her to re-tuck him in. This boy could not stay still, even moments before he went to behind.

Woohyun was snuggling into her pillow. And the springs weren’t digging into his back. It felt like he was on a cloud. “Hmmmm…your bed is comfy and warm. This must be what a caterpillar feels like in his cocoon. Right, Timmy?” he asked his teddy bear, making it nod to his question.

“You all snuggly warm,” Maeri cooed, patting his head. Woohyun smiled and happily nodded. She then drug her hand from his head down unto his face. “Hate you. I hope you have nightmares,” she lowly growled. She then sat up from the bed and began to walk out of her bedroom.

“Where are you going? You’re not done,” Woohyun called after her. Maeri turned around to see him and his cheeky expression.

“What else do I have to do?” she groaned. “You’re in my bed. You’re tucked in. I am NOT kissing you goodnight,” she yelled at him, shaking a finger in his face.

“Psh! Please I know better than to ask you that,” he scoffed.

“Then what?”

Woohyun wiggled his feet underneath the taut sheets. “Sing me a lullaby,” he ordered.

Maeri laughed at that. Woohyun would be the first to tell everybody how awful she sang, comparing her to a tone deaf cat. “Are you sure that you want to submit yourself to that torture? You know that I sing like.”

“Yes!” he said happily. “Just sing softly,” he suggested. It’s not that he wanted to hear Maeri sing. He’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard than to hear Maeri belt out a tune. Woohyun just liked the fact that she was doing everything that he asked her too (she normally followed his whims due to her weak hear but never so willingly). He felt a little power drunk.

“Alright ,” she cleared her throat as she sat on the edge of her bed.  “Rock-a-bye, Namu, on a tree-top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. And when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And down will come Namu, cradle and all,” she recited, barely could be considered singing.

Woohyun brought the sheets up to his nose, covering his scowling face. “T-that doesn’t sound very nice,” he stammered. “So I basically just fall out of a tree, and you just watch me fall? Don’t try to catch me or anything?” he asked.

Maeri nodded. “Yep, pretty much.”

“I think that song will give me nightmares,” he whispered clutching tightly onto Timmy.

“Then mission accomplished,” she responded happily, hopping from her bed. She walked to her door and before she shut off the lights she wished, “Night, Hyunnie. Night, Timmy.”

“Good night, Maeri,” Woohyun said in a high-pitched voice waving his bear’s paw. Then the room went black, leaving to wonder if he should’ve also dared Maeri to stay with him. Her room was kind of creepy at night. He could hear the wind howling through the cracks in her window, and weird shadows were cast across her room. _And did that chest just move? Shit! It is haunted!_

* * *

“How are you already awake?” Maeri walked into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep away from her eyes. Well, she wasn’t walking as much  as she was shuffling across the tiled floor, exerting the least amount of energy as possible. She finally reached her destination, a chair at the table. With her head on the table, she turned to see the person who caused so much noise to wake her up. Woohyun was clanking dishes making himself breakfast, and making a headache for Maeri. “It’s Saturday. You’re supposed to sleep until noon like a normal teenager,” she whimpered as Woohyun noisily dropped a frying pan onto a burner.

“Did I wake you?” he asked with an apologetic smile. Maeri nodded her head against the table, dragging her cheek across its surface, distorting her face. “Sorry. How ‘bout I make you pancakes?” he offered.

Maeri suddenly perked up at that notion. “I don’t even have to dare you? Geez Nam Woohyun. You must like me,” she said with a wink.

Woohyun snorted, “Right because you with that bedhead and your nerdy glasses is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Maeri didn’t even care and threw her tangled mess of hair over her shoulder. “I know. I’m gorgeous,” she lauded herself. Then her eyes glanced at her friend up and down. He was already dressed and washed up for the day. His hair perfectly styled, and he smelled more than decent. Not at all freshly rolled out of bed like herself. But she wasn’t about to admit it. “And you’re…not bad,” she dissed.

“Are you kidding me?” Woohyun said in an offended voice. He spun around to face her, showing off his body. “ This body is fantastic! Don’t even get me started about my flawless face,” he ended, waving his hand in a circle around his face.

A stroke of brilliance flashed through Maeri’s mind. Just because yesterday had ended and it was a new day, didn’t mean that their game was over. “I know how to make it even more flawless,” she said as nonchalantly as possible

“How?”

* * *

“I hope you’re having fun,” Woohyun pouted.

“I am having so much fun,” Maeri said, beaming. She was applying blush to Woohyun’s round cheeks, giving him a nice rosy glow. For her latest dare, she dared him to let her apply make-up on his face. And after a thick layer of BB cream, wing-tipped eyeliner, several shades of eyeshadow circling his eyes like a raccoon, and curling his eye lashes, Woohyun’s beauty transformation was almost complete. “Aw! You look soooo pretty, Hyunnie. Now look up. I want to add some more mascara,” she politely commanded. This was by far the most fun she’s had since their game started.

“More?” he said in disbelief. “Don’t I have enough gunk on my eyes?” he whined but reluctantly looked up anyway.

After putting on another coat of mascara, Maeri scrunched up her own clean face as she studied his make-up caked face. “Hmmm…you could actually use some more eye shadow. To make your smoky eye smokier,”  she concluded, tapping her chin with her forefinger. Woohyun’s scowl deepened. “Don’t give me that look,” she reprimanded. “You said to make you look sexy.”

Woohyun regretted his decision. If he had said the ‘innocent, natural’ look, he would have been done ages ago. And with a less taut and itchy face. He didn’t know how girls lived with this. “I didn’t think it would take so much work,” he admitted.

“Yep, it’s hard being a girl,” Maeri quietly declared. Her tongue peaked out of her mouth as she was concentrating on putting on more eyeshadow onto Woohyun’s eyelids.

Woohyun looked at her face, nice and clean like his once was. “No wonder why you don’t wear any make-up, ever,” he retorted.

“That’s because I don’t need it. I’m naturally beautiful,” Maeri bragged. Woohyun snickered. To which Maeri smacked his thigh with the back of her hand. “Stop it or you’ll make me smudge, and I’ll have to start all over again.”

He automatically stiffened, wanting this torture to be over as soon as possible. “I’ll be still as a statue,” he promised.

“Doubt it,” she retorted as she saw his foot twitching incessantly under his crossed legs. “Now pout. It’s time for lipstick.” Woohyun then stuck out his plump lips. Maeri leaned in closer, bringing the bright red tube of lipstick to his lips. He could feel her hot breath on his face. This was the closest that he had been with a girl since Jiyoung. And despite the nature of their platonic relationship, Maeri was still a girl, and not a bad looking one, even if she looked like a disheveled monkey after rolling out of bed. If his cheeks wasn’t already covered in rogue, they would have glowed red with blush. Her hand gripped his chin to steady his face. Her eyes focused intensely on his lips. Her tongue once again peaking out of the corner of her mouth as she was concentrating. His eyelids grew heavy and closed, leaning even closer to Maeri. Then he felt it, the tug of the lipstick being drug across his lips, bringing an unfamiliar, waxy sensation. Maeri pulled away and smiled at her masterpiece. “Alright, all done! Who’s a pretty girl?”

Woohyun cleared his throat and announced. “Me!” He brought both of his hands underneath his chin, showing off his v-line. He then got up and pushed her away. “Now move. I got to wash up now or else I’ll be late for practice.”

“Not so fast,” Maeri warned, jumping up to join him. “I dare you to go to practice looking like that and wearing this,” she ran over to the chair and grabbed her uniform skirt that was laying on it.

Woohyun’s eyes were fixed on the plaid skirt. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

A smile cracked his caked face. “Are you sure that you want to do this?” he asked. His victory was quickly approaching.

But Maeri had no idea. She looked at him and then back to the skirt. “Oh yea.”

“You’re in trouble now,” Woohyun announced, doing a little victory dance.

Maeri furrowed her eyebrows. “Why?”

Woohyun shimmed. “You’re all out of dares,” he happily declared.

Her jaw dropped. “No…no! I can’t be!” she stammered.

“Yep. The toilet, the trunk, the prank call, the make-up, and now the skirt. That’s five,” he counted out for her.

Maeri counted along with him. He was right. She had already wasted them all. She looked back at him. “A-aren’t you out already too?”

“Nope,” he said, puffing his cheeks. The he listed, “The worm, the car, the burger, and the bed. That’s only four. I’m the last man standing. I win!” He began to whoop and dance around her living room.

Maeri put her free hand on her hip and cocked it. “So what is it? What do you want me to do?” she asked in resignation, hoping that her friend would have pity on her.

“Hmmm,” Woohyun dramatically hummed as he tapped his chin. His eyes twinkled as they met hers. “I think that I’ll hold onto it. Keep it until I need it,” he concluded. After all, nothing delighted him more than seeing Maeri squirm. And now with this dare hanging over her head like the sword of Damocles, he could probably manage to convince her to perform some other minor favors for him.

“So I’m going to have to live in suspense until you use your last dare,” her voice went up and her hands clutched tightly unto her skirt.

“Yep. It’s not my fault that you were careless. Now give me that skirt,” he commanded, wresting the pleated plaid mess from her tight grip.  He looked it up and down and nodded to himself. “I bet that I can pull it off better than you can, even with my hairy legs.” Then he walked away to put it on.

Maeri was left alone in the living room, stunned and frozen in fear. She knew Woohyun. She knew him very well. And he was about to make her life a living hell of anticipation until he would finally use his last dare (whatever torturous thing his mischievous mind would conjure up. She didn’t even want to think about it).

 “I am such an idiot.”

* * *

Even though the picture of Woohyun dressed like a girl playing soccer got its own full-page spread in the yearbook, he ultimately got the last laugh when he finally ended the game at the amusement park, stealing Maeri’s first kiss.

They reinstated the game only once again in their college years during a rare weekend when Maeri came to visit him. It was right after she had broken up with her first boyfriend and was seeking comfort from her best friend. Woohyun suggested it, to take her mind off of her recently broken heart. But that game almost landed Maeri in jail after becoming a drunken mess and throwing up on a poor police officer’s shoes (Woohyun had dared her to finish a bottle or two of soju on her own. Not his most brilliant idea). After sobering up the next morning and recalling the last night’s events (which also consisted of Woohyun streaking across the campus’s main quad and her speaking in a horrible satoori accent for the whole night trying to convince Hoya that she was from Busan too, which wasn’t a dare but a product of her own brilliant drunken mind), she had sworn to herself never to play the game ever again. But Woohyun, like always, had different ideas, and was waiting for the right opportunity to suggest the game again. The chance came sooner than he had expected, and he was going to take full advantage of it.


	14. "I dare you" (age 30) part 1

It was dark and dusty underneath their bed, but Maeri didn’t care. She was on a mission, looking for a couple of items, already planning the torture she was going to put Woohyun through today. She had already set her alarm (on vibrate so she wouldn’t wake him up) an hour early. There was no way she was going to lose this round. As the saying goes, the third time's the charm (also the early bird catches the worm). She could feel it. Today she was finally going to one up Nam Woohyun, for the first time in 12 years. 

She felt her hand run into something fuzzy and matted, laying on top of her box of her summer clothes. She pulled out the box from underneath the bed and saw an old childhood friend. Picking up the teddy bear she thought aloud, “Oh, it’s Timmy! I didn’t know that he still had him.”

A hand suddenly appeared, taking the stuffed animal away. Maeri looked up to see Woohyun bleary-eyed with a serious case of bedhead, having just woken up. He tucked the bear’s head under his chin as he snuggled the bear to his chest. “Like I said, he’s family. And you don’t throw family away,” he replied in a raspy voice. He yawned and looked at his fiancee curiously. “What are you doing down there?”

“Nothing,” she responded, hiding the box behind her back. Then she giggled, unable to contain her excitement, “Well, you’ll see in a bit.”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Already scheming?”

“Oh yea,” Maeri chirped as she sat next to him on the bed. “This time, I’m going to win.”

Woohyun chuckled and shoved her lightly, egging her on. “I’m the reigning champ. Do you think that you can really beat me? I won the last two rounds,” he bragged, his voice full of bravado. Maeri found it hard to take him seriously with a teddy bear in his lap.

Maeri shoved him back. “Third time’s a charm,” she retorted. 

Both of their eyes met, flaming with the desire to win. “Let’s make it more of a challenge then,” Woohyun proposed as he narrowed his eyes. He had been toying with this idea for awhile, for years. It was hard enough to convince Maeri to play this game with him (and he had tried on multiple occasions), but to change the rules (especially since Maeri was such a stickler) would take lots of persuasion. But this time he had something to appeal to that he didn’t during his previous efforts, her guilt. And she had a lot of it now. It was evident on how easily she gave into him and how she didn’t lecture him for being a drunken mess. Just maybe, he’ll get his way if he played his cards right.

She cocked her head, taking his bait. “How so?”

Now it was time to carefully reel her in. Just like with a fish, you don’t want them to immediately know that they are caught or they will struggle more. “We’re older now, right? And wiser,” he carefully argued.

“So  much wiser.” Her sarcasm was a good sign. She felt like she still had footing; she didn’t know that Woohyun had caught her quite yet.

“We always do just 5 dares,” he said with a pout. He put up a finger and put on the cutest face he could muster, knowing that his bedhead and the teddy bear would only make him appear more adorable, more irresistible. He knew full well. “This time. Just this once, let’s double it,” he begged.

Maeri began to tug away from his line. “Ten?!” she repeated in shock.

He had to tug her back in a little more forceful. “Don’t I deserve it,” he argued, abandoning his aegyo and substituting it for a hurt expression. “You’ve been a sucky friend the past few weeks, and don’t even get me started on how bad of a fiancé you were. There was one day when all you said to me was ‘good morning’ and ‘good night.’” After he was done, he could see her resolve completely crack; she looked defeated, resigned. He’d gotten her, hook, line, and sinker.

With a disgruntled sigh, she lightly punched his thigh, no longer able to look him in the face. “You really know how to guilt someone to getting what you want.”

“So it’s working? We’re gonna do ten?” Woohyun asked with wide eyes. She slowly nodded, showing her reluctance. Her head still lowered. Woohyun was so excited he couldn’t help but to ruffle her hair, and she growled in response. But he didn’t care. This was shaping up to be the best day he’s had in a weeks. “Awesome. And since we have so many, we’ll need all day to play. So for my first dare, I want you to call in sick,” he ordered as he placed her cellphone (which was on the nightstand next to their bed) into her hand.

Maeri sighed as she dialed the phone. Woohyun had a point, but she didn’t like missing work. She had even went into work for a week with a fever (a minor one), and she made it through by her sheer will. Apparently she had not shaken off her ‘perfect student’ behaviour and had carried the same mentality into adult-life. 

“Oh, noona,” Sungjong answered her call.

“Sungjong-ah, can you tell Debah that I’m feeling a bit sick? I don’t think I can make it in today,” Maeri grumbled.

Sungjong scoffed, “Funny, noona. You don’t sound sick.”

“I AM!” Maeri exclaimed. Then she froze, realizing that yelling at the new hire wasn’t exactly proving her point, especially considering how astute he was. So she threw in some fake coughs to sway him as an after thought. “I’m so congested,” she said nasally. 

“Noona, don’t lie,” Sungjong said, his voice laced with skepticism. “You’re probably spending all day with Woohyun, aren’t you? You finally figured out how babies were made.”

“Yah! Lee Sungjong!” she yelled, casting a glance at the man sitting next to her who was having a reunion with his stuffed animal, clutching him tightly to his chest.  Like I need anymore babies . But his eyes were still encircled with dark, sunkenness, and there was still a hint of sadness in them. Maeri placed a hand on his thigh. “You’re right. I am with Woohyun, but we’re just hanging out all day, like an extended date. Don’t tell Debah, or I’ll kick your butt.”

Sungjong laughed, “Not really smart to threaten me like that. I could probably get you for harassment.”

“And like your questions aren’t harassing?” Maeri argued, and she could Sungjong inhale about to combat her comment. “I know. I know. I did it to myself. And oh, by the way, you only have 5 questions left.” And she hung up the phone before the snarky boy could respond. Maeri gently tossed her cell phone onto the bed. She looked over to Woohyun. “Happy?”

Woohyun nodded and thrust out his hand. “Now hand me my phone. I have to call my office and tell them I’m taking the day off too,” he wiggled his fingers as he spoke, asking for the phone.

“Nope,” Maeri responded, puffing up her cheeks and slapping his hand back down. “Because I dare you to go to work,” she said while sticking out her tongue. Woohyun’s jaw dropped, and his eyes began buzzing around, searching for an explanation. “Hey! One of us needs to make money,” Maeri argued.

“Fine,” he relented. He faced his fiancee and cocked an eyebrow. “Then I dare you to be my shadow and follow me around all day,” he demanded, pointing a stern finger just inches away from her nose. Maeri immediately raised her hands like a criminal and looked about in confusion.

“Even to your work?”

Woohyun nodded. “Everywhere my shadow goes, you go. And…” he left his voice hanging in the air, pausing dramatically.

She put her arms down and crossed them on her chest. “And?” Maeri urged him on with an anticipating smile. 

“I dare you to wear whatever I pick out for you, for the WHOLE day. You can’t take it off or alter it, okay?” Woohyun made perfectly clear. Because they were older and  so much wiser, he knew that Maeri would come up with ways to skirt around his dares (well, he would too. There was no way he’d let little Maeri get the better of him). When they had played in college, the both of them would just barely fulfill the requirements of the dares (being more stubborn with age). And by the end of the game, the two became so incredibly specific in their dares that their dares sounded more like legal contracts with various circumstantial clauses, trying to predict every loophole the other might conceive. They were both too smart and mischievous for their own good.

“Fine then,” Maeri nodded in agreement. Then she lifted her head and glared at her friend. “I dare you to do the same thing.” 

Woohyun’s eyes narrowed, boring into hers. He was waiting for a flicker, any sign of movement. He could see it, her eyes welling up with tears. They were becoming dry. He smirked, and Maeri blinked, unable to keep her eyes open any longer. And in that brief millisecond when Maeri was blinking the dryness away from her eyes, Woohyun took off in the direction of their shared dresser and began scouring through the drawers, looking for the most perfect and humiliating outfit he could muster.

But Maeri, for once, was one step ahead of her friend. She ducked back down underneath the bed, and took out the box with her old clothes in it. Her evil giggle was drowned out by Woohyun’s. She looked up and saw Woohyun showing off his outfit of choice, one of his long button-down work shirts...and nothing else.

“Uh huh,” Maeri violently shook her head as she stood up and walked over to him. She wielded her finger as if it was a dagger and stabbed him in the sides. “Woohyun, there’s no way I can wear that at your work-place.”

Woohyun smirked, having already anticipated that response. “Fine you can choose,” he pretended to give in. “You can wear this or this.” From behind his back he pulled out the lacy black negligee that Soyeon had so nicely ‘given’ her weeks ago.

Maeri’s jaw dropped, and her cheeks began hotly blazing. “Where did you find that?” she demanded as she tried to rip it from his hands.

Being taller, all Woohyun had to do to evade Maeri was to stand on his tiptoes and to raise the underwear higher into the air. But to totally win over her, he put his palm on her face and shoved her away. “Stuffed in the back of your drawers,” he said with a grunt as she struggled against his palm. “Better question is when did you get it? Why did you get it? Why haven’t I seen it before?”

Maeri gave up with a huff and answered, “It was a gift from Soyeon! I didn’t buy it, I swear! Soyeon works at the lingerie store…”

A perverted smile appeared on his face, and he interrupted her frantic defense, “What were you doing there?”

“I…uh,” she stuttered. Woohyun began to chuckle not-so-innocently at her being flustered. Fed up, she put her hands on her hips and decided to attack back. “That’s where girls buy underwear, dummy. I’ll take this.” She grabbed his work shirt from him (she’ll have to burn the damned black lace later). The frown etched on her face flipped upside down as she presented him with her choice, “And here is your outfit.”

Woohyun slowly took it from her hands and studied it. Once he discovered what it was, he started to shake the fabric in his hands and whine, “W-what is this? Is this your sweater? And shirt?” The metallic gold fabric of the cardigan glistened in the light and the floral, semi-sheer shirt flounced as he shook both of them, stamping his feet in frustration. Which only brought a large smile to his fiancee’s face.

“Yep,” she said triumphantly. Then she put his outfit for her up to her chest. “Hey, if you are dressing me like Sistar 19 then you can also look like an idol…with a cutie concept.” Then she eyes grew wide after realizing something. Woohyun was going to work after all. She rushed off to his side of the closer. “Hold on. I forgot the tie!” She came back with two ties, one black and one midnight blue. She scrunched up her face in thought as she compared the two against her shirt. “Better stick with the black. The blue looks a little flashy,” she thought outloud.

Woohyun scoffed as he took the black tie from her. “Yes because we can’t have my tie clash with my shiny gold cardigan or my flower print shirt. My coworkers will lose all respect for me.”

“I just want you to look your best. Now, go change or we’ll be late for work.”

* * *

Thankfully, Woohyun allowed her to wear a long coat to protect her from the cold (and her legs from peeping passerbys). And without him knowing, she also put on her shortest shorts because there was no way she was walking around in just a shirt( but it was okay because Woohyun had put a blazer over the bright and sweater so that all that could be seen was the collar of the shirt). Maeri pulled the coat closer to her body as she stepped outside into autumn air.

“Do you always walk to work?” she asked with a slight shiver.

“Some of us aren’t so lazy or averse to exercise,” Woohyun retorted, already leading the way to his office. Maeri had to slight jog to keep up with his long strides, but she never allowed herself to entirely catch up with him. Woohyun noticed this and turned around. “Why are you following behind me like that? Why don’t you come over here so we can hold hands?” He stepped closer to her and tried to grab her hand. But Maeri, looking down, stepped quickly to the side, evading him. Woohyun tried again, but she stepped behind him. Woohyun looked at the woman like she was a crazed loon, which she might as well have been because she was smiling at him like naive child.

“Where your shadow goes, I have to go,” she said, sticking out her tongue. Woohyun looked down, and sure enough, Maeri hadn’t left the confines of his shadow. Woohyun frowned. She won this round. “And you can’t hold hands with a shadow anyways,” she said, shaking in bottom jovially because she knew that she’d bested him.

Woohyun studied her for a bit as she continued her dance. He sighed.  And she always calls me immature. He couldn’t watch her humiliate herself anymore and looked down the street. Maybe it was too soon to concede the victory to her just yet. The answer laid right ahead of him. 

He quickly jogged up the sidewalk, earning suspicious looks from passerbys especially with Maeri practically running to catch up with his shadow. But then they soon were enveloped in darkness. A large building up the street cast a large shadow onto the sidewalk, cloaking everything including Woohyun’s shadow. Now it was Woohyun’s turn to dance. “Where’s my shadow now?” he taunted her.

Maeri looked around frantically, searching for a patch of sidewalk slightly darker than the rest.  
“I can’t see it!”

Woohyun tapped his finger onto his chin as he feigned searching for his shadow along with her. “I think that it’s riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight here,” he said pointing the spot next to him. Maeri grumbled as she shuffled her feet towards him. Once she was next to him, Woohyun grabbed her hand and cooed, “That’s a good shadow. Now let’s go!”

There was no way he was going to let Maeri get the better of him.

* * *

“Huh,” Maeri let out a grunt as she looked up into the sky, wondering if she could ever see the top of Woohyun’s office building. It was a big contrast from her auction house, which just looked like your modest store.

“What?” Woohyun craned his neck to see what she was seeing.

Still looking up, Maeri answered, “I just never thought your office would look like this. It’s pretty tall. I thought you worked for a small company.”

Woohyun looked down at her, laughed, and dug his knuckles into the top of her head. “They don’t own the whole building, stupid, only a few floors.” Maeri let out a low note of acknowledgement, pushed Woohyun’s hand away, and rubbed her now sore head (and messed up hair). Woohyun looked back at the building. “This is your first time coming here isn’t it?” he asked. Maeri turned away, but not quick enough. Woohyun could see the guilt wash over her face. “Wah!” he exclaimed, clutching his heart, feigning hurt. “I come over and see you all the time at the auction house, but you never once came here.”

Maeri pushed him away and pouted. “Oh don’t act like you come to the auction house to see me. It’s my wallet you want. Once you walk through the doors, ‘Noona buy me something to eat’.” She did her best imitation of Woohyun (which was pretty good because she’s had years of practice). She spat, “You only call me noona when you want me to buy you something.”

Woohyun pushed her back. “You’re like a month older than me,” he retorted. “You’re not old enough to be a proper Noona.”

“Exactly,” Maeri whined. “Then why do I always have to pay?”

“Because even though it’s a month, you’re still older,” he joked and began to walk into the building.

“Stupid technicality,” she grumbled under her breath. Then she called after her fleeing fiancee, “You’re going to make me broke, you know that?”

* * *

“Are you just going to sit there and sigh all day?” Woohyun complained. All morning, Maeri had been sitting in the corner of the cubicle, breathing annoyingly loud. And he knew that she was doing it on purpose to get his attention, but what was he supposed to do? She was the one who dared him to go to work. Now in his office, he had to work...because of her.

Maeri was making a chain with his paper clips and put it around her neck, making a long necklace. “I’m booooooooooooored,” she whined. She noticed Woohyun looking at her necklace with an amused smile. “You want one?” she asked.

“No! You look a kindergartener with it on,” he teased, picking up the necklace with his pen and slowly lifting it over her head and off of her. He then grabbed a book from his desk. “Read this. It’s a crime novel. You’ll like it,” he recommended as he handed it over.

Maeri took it with two hands and read the back of the cover. Her eyes widened recalling the title from memory. “Oh! Unnie told me about this book.” She frowned and handed it back. “I don’t want to read it.”

“Why not?”

“She told me how it ended, and I don’t like it,” Maeri answered, crossing her arms over her chest and leaned back. “It’s so obvious.”

Woohyun put his fingers into his ears and started humming loudly. “Don’t tell me!” he whined. “It was the husband, wasn’t it? It’s always the husband. No! A secret lover? The detective?” He saw her poker face crack a little; he had guessed right. “AH! It was the detective! It’s all ruined now!” He threw the book onto his desk and pouted.

“Why do you keep asking me, if you don’t want to know? You know that I have an expressive face,” Maeri defended herself. She wasn’t about to let Woohyun make her feel sorry for this too.

“Just once. Don’t you want to read a book or watch a movie that you don’t know the ending to?” Woohyun complained. He swore that this was the millionth time they had this conversation and about the billionth time Maeri had ruined an ending for him. She was a walking, talking spoiler alert. And because Woohyun hated not knowing things, he would end up incessantly asking her questions until her over-expressive face gave away the answer. He hated the both of them for it.

Maeri picked up her paper clip necklace again and put it on. “I want to know what I’m getting into. If I’ll like the ending. I don’t want to waste my time with something that I won’t like.” She saw Woohyun nod sadly along with her answer, having heard this before. “I’m sorry,” she said, resting her hand on his knee. 

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be,” Woohyun looked up at her with a mischievous smile. “I think it’s time for your next dare.”

* * *

“I thought we said we’d stop doing dares like this after what happened last time,” Maeri said, holding her phone in front of her, her thumb poised to dial a number.

Woohyun shook his head. “I don’t remember saying that.” Then he took the phone from her hands and dialed the number for her. He put it to his ear, hearing it ring once, and then handed it over to Maeri, who now looked stiff with apprehension. He put his hand on her shoulder. “Just tell him what we rehearsed.”

Maeri’s lips were mumbling the lines Woohyun had prepared for her, trying to engrave them into her memory. But then her rehearsal was interrupted by a rough tone at the other end of the line, “Hello?”

“Ah, yes, is this Lee Howon?” Maeri asked, adopting the accent of a foreigner speaking Korean. Or at least that’s what she thought a foreigner would sound like. Her accent was over exaggerated and slow, and she was practically yelling into the receiver. Woohyun silently chuckled at her, bringing a finger to his lips signaling her to lower her voice.

“Yes?” Hoya answered apprehensively.

“Congratulations, Howon-ssi! You just won an all expense paid vacation to uh…” She forgot her line and looked at Woohyun who was mouthing it to her. “To...uh...D...Dee...Disney World, of course! I knew that.” She had dropped her character and horrible accent along with that. Woohyun hit her, and she slapped him back before continuing and re-assuming her character, “We’ll just need your bank account number so we can make a small, refundable deposit in your name and reserve your trip.”

“Huh, that’s odd. I don’t recall signing up for any contests,” Hoya replied skeptically. “Is this a scam?”

“Of course not!” Maeri defended herself. “Your little sister signed you up for it.” Woohyun squeaked, catching her mistake.

“I don’t have a little sister.”

“Oh!” Maeri exclaimed, quickly racking through her brain, searching for a believable solution. “Don’t you have a friend who’s like a little sister?”

“Yes. You mean Yoo Maeri?”

“Oh really?” Maeri was flattered and broke character again. Noticing that she faltered for a second time, she slapped herself in the forehead. She cleared her throat. “Yea, Yoo Maeri was the one who signed you up for this contest. I thought it was strange when she said she was your little sister, but your last names didn’t match up.”

“I don’t think it was her,” Hoya combated. 

“Why not?”

“Because I’m talking to her on the phone right now.”

“...How did you know?” Maeri asked in her normal voice, wincing. She turned to Woohyun who was chuckling to himself and shaking his head.

Hoya sighed, “Because I still have your phone number from the time I carpooled with you to work when mine was in the shop, stupid.” Maeri pulled the phone from her face, and sure enough on her screen Hoya’s name appeared, proving that she had saved his number too. She should have called him from Woohyun’s office phone. “Besides, your phising accent sounds exactly like your horrible Satoori. Practice some more and try again, okay? I got to work now. Tell Woohyun I said hi.” He hung up.

Maeri faced Woohyun and giggled embarrassedly. While putting the phone back in her pocket, she said, “Hoya says hi.”

“Eh, I forgot how bad you were at this,” Woohyun remarked. “You can’t lie to save your life.”

“What about you? You think you’re so good at lying and no one will catch you,” Maeri argued. Woohyun nodded in agreement to everything she said. “Fine! Prove it! I dare you to call my parents and tell them you got transferred to Daegu. We’re moving there next week.”

“Call,” Woohyun said, pulling out his own phone and dialing in the number. “Let the master show you how it’s done,” he bragged. Maeri rolled her eyes and scooted closer to him so that she could hear the conversation.

“Hello, Woohyunnie? Why are you calling in the middle of the day? Aren’t you at work? Hang up right now before you get fired,” Maeri’s mother nagged endlessly in one breath (it was her mother’s greatest talent).

“It’s okay. I’ll be quick. I just wanted to share some news with you,” Woohyun said cheerfully, trying to dissuade her from nagging any further.

Maeri’s mother gasped. “No don’t tell me...Maeri’s pregnant. And before the wedding too! You dog!” If naggging was her biggest strength, jumping to conclusions was a close second.

“Ah! No! Ahjumma! That’s not it!” Woohyun’s eyes widened in panic and his voice rose a couple of octaves. Maeri was looking at him, speechless with her jaw unhinged. 

Her mother was too wrapped up in her own world to notice Woohyun’s objections. “Oh! I need to do some shopping now! There’s so much to buy. I’ll talk to you later Woohyunnie. Call your mother,” and with that, she hung up.

“Call her back!” Maeri insisted, grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him. “Unless you want our apartment to be filled with cribs and strollers and all that crap!”

“Or...we could get you pregnant for real,” Woohyun teased. But Maeri was not in the mood for it.

“YAH! NAM WOOHYUN!”

“Hey, Woohyun. Is everything okay in there?” Sungyeol called to his co-worker, knocking a little before entering.

Woohyun gestured to Maeri to hide (the last thing he needed was for Sungyeol to see them in the middle of their game because he  would get involved. He always did). Maeri pushed his feet to the side and crawled underneath his desk, and she hid herself by returning his legs underneath the desk, covering her.

Once Sungyeol stepped in, he looked around. “That’s funny,” he mumbled. “I thought I heard someone else in here.”

“Ah!” Woohyun exclaimed quickly picking up his office phone. “I was on a phone call with a client. They weren’t too happy,” he explained putting the phone back down. 

Sungyeol walked up closer to him. “Ah, I could probably help you with that. Clients love me. I could…” Woohyun moved his chair closer to his desk, and when he did, he accidentally stepped on Maeri’s hand, who then yelped in pain. Sungyeol stopped. “What was that?”

Woohyun looked up with innocent eyes. “What? I didn’t hear anything. You must be going crazy.”

“No I swore I heard something come from here,” Sungeyol argued pulling out Woohyun along with his chair, revealing Maeri huddled in a ball underneath the desk. Sungyeol looked back and forth in between the two and giggled pervertedly. “Well, what do we have here?”

Maeri carefully crawled out. “Oh, hello,” she tried to say casually but her face was beet-red. “I was just visiting Woohyun for lunch.”

Woohyun chimed in, “Yes! Lunch. Let’s go, honey.” He grabbed Maeri’s wrist, and the both of them tried to leave the office.

Sungyeol stepped in front of them. “Really? In that outfit?” he asked, scanning Maeri up and down, who was still wearing Woohyun’s button down. Sungyeol then turned to Woohyun. “And what the hell are you wearing?” he asked, flicking at his coworker’s sheer, floral collar. Then something caught his eye; Sungyeol could see the gold thread of the sweater shining under the blazer. “What’s this?” he said as he ripped open Woohyun’s blazer, exposing his entire outfit. Sungyeol’s forehead wrinkled in confusion. “What’s going on with you two?”

“We’re playing a game of dares,” Maeri confessed. Woohyun nudged her knowing that Sungyeol would now get himself involved. 

Sungyeol giggled. “Ooh kinky. Tell me how to play, and maybe I can do it with Soyeon.”

“No,” Woohyun began to clear the situation. “It’s not like that.”  I couldn’t make Maeri play like that even if I begged. “Just innocent stuff. Like the outfits. And I dared her to come to work with me.”

“Can I play?” Sungyeol asked. “I know what I would dare Soyeon to do for me.”

“Really like what?”

* * *

“Oh! That feels good. A little harder and to the left. There!” Woohyun was sitting on his chair, and Maeri was kneeling in front of him, rubbing his feet. “When did you get to be so good at this, honey?”

Maeri shrugged as she pressed her thumbs into his arch and then wrinkled her nose. “Blech! Your feet smell, sweetie!” she retched now turning her head away from his odorous feet.

“See. I’m full of good ideas,” Sungyeol bragged. 

Maeri looked up. “Any good ideas for revenge? I’ll give one of my dares to you. And you can have Woohyun do whatever you want.”

“Really?!” Sungyeol squealed in excitement.

Maeri glanced over and saw the worry in Woohyun’s eyes. He was shaking his head, begging her not to do it. “Oh yea,” Maeri happily said as she roughly pressed her thumbs into the balls of his feet causing him to wince. She literally had him in her hands. Well, technically Sungyeol did.

Sungyeol bounced back on the heels of his feet and exposed his gummy smile. “Well, there’s just one thing I want Woohyun to do for me…”

* * *

“How was I supposed to know that he was going to ask you to finish up his quarterly report?” Maeri tried to defend herself as Woohyun was sulking in the corner with his head resting on his knees. He’d have to stay late tonight now that he had to finish up Sungyeol’s report. And now he looked like he had a little black raincloud hovering above his bowed head.

He brought up his head and glared at Maeri. “Because Sungyeol is kniving!” he shouted.

Maeri fought the urge to snap back, swallowing her anger. She sat down next to her pouting fiance and patted his back, trying to comfort him. “Well, I tried to stop him, but then he ran out saying ‘No take-backsies.’ I mean it’s not like he’s leaving early for a poor reason. He wants to be with his wife. She’s due soon.” She tried to play on Woohyun’s sympathies, but his mood was unconquerable.

He looked at her with sad eyes and whined, “Well, I want to hang out and have fun with my wife.”

The breath caught her throat.  Not that face, not that sad puppy face . Over the years, she tried hard to build resistance against it, and at times, when her resolve was stronger, she could easily refuse. But now, she was already weakened by her guilt, and he was essentially kicking her while she was down. She hated how easily Woohyun could play her. Even moreso she hated allowing herself to be played by him. Maeri let out a big sigh, “Come on, sweetie. Let’s go get lunch. You still have a lunch break, right?”

Woohyun jumped up after hearing what he’d wanted to hear. He could always ask Maeri to buy him lunch, but it was always more satisfying for him to have her offer. That way he didn’t feel like he was taking advantage of her (although he was taking advantage of her feelings, but that’s an other matter). “Okay call!” he cheered. “You’re paying, right?” he asked as he was grabbing his coat and putting it on.

Maeri looked down at the carpet and kicked it with her foot. “Actually, I didn’t bring my wallet because I was planning on daring you to pay for lunch,” she confessed, braving to catch a glimpse of Woohyun’s face. It had gone from exhilarated back to depressed in less than a millisecond. 

“It’s like you’re kicking me while I’m down,” he grumbled, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

“Well, I wouldn’t have felt compelled to dare you if you just bought me lunch just one time,” Maeri defended herself, not allowing herself to feel guilty anymore. Or at least she tried. Woohyun’s pout deepened, and his shoulders became for hunched. Maeri could practically see lightning flashing in that little black raincloud above his head. This kid is going to make me broke . “Fine, next time, I’ll take you to that damn expensive sushi place you like,” she offered as consolation.

A large smile overtook his face, and he threw his arms around Maeri. “You’re the best, Noona!” he cheered.

Maeri laughed, and right as he let go, she pointed at him with both fingers and cutely shot them like guns saying, “But for today you’re my Oppa!”

“I kind of like the sound of that. Say it again!” he commanded nicely.

“Oooooooooooppa!” Maeri called to him, her voice octaves higher than usual. She patted her belly. “I’m hungry! Oooooppa! Buy me food!”

Woohyun winced and shook his head. “Okay, only if you promise never to act cute again,” he proposed as he turned around to leave, but not before Maeri could catch a glimpse of the smile forming on his face. He was clearly enjoying her aegyo.

“But Ooooooooooooooppa! I wuv you!” 

* * *

Maeri should have known that Woohyun would take her to the soondae restaurant. It was the place that they frequented the most together, going there since high school. Right as they walked through the doors, the owner rushed out to greet them with warm hugs and expressed her joy and utter relief to see the two of them had finally become a couple. “I thought that I was going to die before I saw this day come. It happens all the time in dramas. The best friends who are perfect for each other never get together in the end. But you two...Aigoo! Oh I am so happy!” she cheered as she placed heaps of free mandoo and other service onto the table (including a bottle of wine that she had been saving “for an occasion like this”).

Maeri looked at Woohyun and cocked an eyebrow. He was proudly staring at all of the free food on the table and judged that he could even get the soondae for free if he and Maeri acted more like a couple in their honeymoon phase. Maeri, on the other hand, sighed. She should have also known that Woohyun was going to “pay” for the meal not from the money in his wallet but with his amazing ability to swindle others. She shrugged and began to stuff the mandoo into her mouth. As long as she didn’t have to pay for it, she was happy.

“Honey! Wife-y! Maeri-ri-ri-ri!” Woohyun tried to win her attention over from the mandoo. She looked up at him with the stuffing spilling from her lips.

“Wa?” she asked with her mouthful.

“I thought of a new dare,” Woohyun said cutely. Maeri’s mouth stopped chewing and opened slightly in fear. “I want you…” he paused dramatically watching his fiancee hang on his every word. “To feed me for the entire meal.”

Maeri stood up straight and cocked an eyebrow. “The entire meal?”

“Eung,” Woohyun nodded. “Aaaaaaaaaaaaah! I’m waiting. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” he commanded with his mouth hanging wide open.

She rolled her eyes and stuffed a dumpling into the opening. “Aigoo! Is it delicious Woohyun-goon?” she said in baby-talk, stroking under his chin as he chewed. She could feel his muscles flex underneath her fingertips and giggled at the weird sensation.

“Another,” he ordered. Maeri moved her chopsticks to the one closest to her. “Ah! NO! Not that one,” he yelled as if the world was going to end. “That one barely has any stuffing in it. It’s anorexic.”

Maeri scanned the plate looking for an appropriately plump mandoo. “How about this morbidly obese one?” she asked poking her chopstick through the biggest one on the plate.

Woohyun nodded cutely, and Maeri picked it up and was about to bring it to his lips until he said, “It reminds me of you.”

She gave him a good smack on the head and stuffed the Maeri-sized dumpling into her mouth. Woohyun whimpered as he rubbed his head. “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Maeri growled through her teeth.

“Don’t worry. I won’t be biting you anytime soon. You’re too bitter,” Woohyun half-teased. Maeri stuck out her tongue as a response and continued to eat, but she didn’t forget her duty and pushed another dumpling to Woohyun’s lips. He smiled and took it from her. Even though she always tried to act tough and coolly apathetic (which didn’t work with such an expressive face as hers), Maeri had an awfully sweet and tender side, like the nougat in the inside of a chocolate bar. You just had to bite at it a little to get there. Woohyun thought himself lucky to have such a nice and loyal friend and wife.  But …“Yah! Yoo Maeri!” he called out to her, and she looked up at him with a glare. “Let’s get married.”

Maeri put down her chopsticks for the first time since they sat down at the table. Her eyebrows met in the middle of her forehead, and her eyes darted all over his face. “We already are, sweetie…aren’t we?” her voice drifted into doubt.

“Yea,” Woohyun answered as he crossed his arms and leaned back. “ But we haven’t planned a damn thing for the wedding.” He picked at the napkin in front of him in frustration. Once again, they missed a step. The went from friends to fiancees without a single date. And now, somehow, somewhere along the line, they went from fiancees to husband and wife without the ceremony. Why did they keep forgetting such simple things?

“Oh…right,” Maeri said quietly in embarrassment as she picked at the kimchee. “Those things don’t plan themselves, do they?”

“How about April?” Woohyun suddenly asked.

“April?” Maeri repeated. Woohyun nodded emphatically. She cocked her head. “For what?” Woohyun’s smile fell from his face, and the black clouds were rolling in again above his head. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding!” Maeri immediately said with a wave of her hand, but Woohyun’s pout only deepened. But this time, Maeri knew exactly what would make him happy again. She looked at her cellphone under the table and scrolled through her calendar. She found it and glanced back up at Woohyun who was staring out the window melodramatically (as if he was filming some scene from a drama). Maeri smiled and spoke, “The nineteenth.”

“Huh?” Woohyun turned back at her and blinked in confusion.

“April 19 th . It’s a Saturday,” Maeri said nonchalantly, watching Woohyun slowly piece this puzzle together.

Then the answer flashed across his mind like a bolt of lightening. He looked at her with eyebrows raised. “I-is that a date?” he asked apprehensively. Maeri nodded with her head in her hands. Woohyun threw his hands up in the air and whooped, “It’s a date!” Then he opened up his mouth wide again, knowing how to perfectly seal this moment. “Aaaaah!” 

Maeri picked up a piece of pickled radish and said in an annoyed voice (but there was a faint smile on her face, “Seriously? We’re still doing this? Open wide.” Woohyun put his fists in the air and wiggled around like a baby as he ate the food from her, and caused her to laugh. She patted his head. “Aigoo! Cutie!”

He chewed and swallowed his food. After wiping his mouth, he put his elbows on the table and leaned forward. “Now about the honeymoon,” he teased suggestively, knowing that he’d get a rise out of his friend.

Maeri gasped and stuffed his mouth with a large piece of kimchi. “Let’s…uh, think about cake first,” she suggested quietly.

“We-mon,” Woohyun suggested through the cabbage in his mouth.

Maeri vehemently shook her head. “Nu uh, lemon sucks,” she argued. Her tone was like a five year-old. “Chocolate.”

Woohyun narrowed his eyes on hers, and she did the same. He stared deeply into those dark brown eyes he had grown accustomed to over the years. The pupils were wavering in her irises. He could see them start to glisten. She was going to, any moment now. There, there was a slight twitch. Woohyun snorted purposefully, and it was just what he needed. “Hah! You blinked,” he exclaimed as Maeri shut her eyes tightly.

“Dang it!” Maeri cursed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She normally won their staring contests.  My eye health must be getting worse. Or maybe my contacts are dry . She stared up at the ceiling, trying to force her tears back in. “Can I at least get a chocolate cupcake?” she begged.

Woohyun smiled. “You can have all the cupcakes, honey. All the cupcakes in the wo-” he was interrupted when Maeri stuffed the mandoo into his mouth. But he didn’t mind. It was the last one. 

* * *

Just like he had thought, when he and Maeri acted like a couple in their honeymoon phase, Woohyun managed to get the entire meal for free as a sort of engagement gift. As they were walking back to his work, hand-in-hand, he was scanning up and down the streets, wondering which of the street vendors they normally frequented would also give them ‘gifts.’ He started to swing their arms happily at the thought.

Maeri was looking up and down the streets too, but for a different reasons. Doing five dares was one thing, but Maeri was slowly running out of creative juices to be able to form 5 extra ones on top of that. She wished she had Woohyun’s mischievous brain for one moment (but then she later shook that thought from her head, not wanting to know what else was going on in there). She’s have to look for something, some sign that will tell her what to do next. And that’s when she saw it, a physical sign. It read, “The Plastic Ninjas.”

Okay so what the sign read wasn’t important. What the sign was standing on was. It was on a stage where a band was performing a few songs for the afternoon rush, hoping to garner some interest for their show at a nightclub later that evening. A smile crept across her face. She had a Woohyun-like idea.

“Oppa! Sweetie! Hubby!” she called to him, and he turned his head to face her at the last name. “I have just the teensiest little dare for you,” Maeri announced in a baby voice. Woohyun didn’t like where this was going. Her aegyo still being somewhat strange and foreign to him (Maeri was more naturally cute and all other aegyo seemed utterly forced and awkward). “Can you perform a little song for me? Over there?” she asked with a pout, pointing to the band that had just finished their set and was taking a break. A small crowd had already formed around the stage, eager for their next song.

“I don’t know if I can,” he muttered under his breath, tightening his grip on her hand.

Maeri let go of his hand and pushed him close to the stage. “Don’t care!” she exclaimed. 

Woohyun looked back at her as he approached the stage, his jaw slightly shaking out of nervousness. Maeri gestured at him to keep walking. Woohyun looked forward and heaved a giant sigh. He was nervous. He had sang in front of larger groups before for school performances, but he had always prepared. The only impromptu singing he ever did was karoake. And who did he have to impress there? Maeri? Dongwoo? Woohyun only hoped that the musicians wouldn’t allow him to use the equipment...but they graciously did, especially after hearing that his fiancee had requested it from him (and Maeri happened to look all too innocent and pretty at the moment, swaying the band).

Grabbing the microphone in his hands, Woohyun closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding in out of nervousness.  Just think of it as karoake. It’s just me, Maeri, and everyone else is Dongwoo’s clones. Man, that would be scary. A world full of Dongwoos. They’d probably have their own official language and patchika will be their native instrument. And ...His thoughts were broken by the drummer counting them in. Somehow, the moment seemed to embolden him. The adrenaline rush probably played a large role in it. But as the music started, all of the sudden he felt calm. He looked out into the crowd, and his eyes met with Maeri’s. She was currently frowning, trying to figure out what song he was going to sing. Woohyun smiled as he saw the realization slowly dawn on her, and she covered her face in her hands. She should have known that Woohyun was going to turn this against her.

It sounded different, very different from the beginning because it was been played with band instruments and lacked the electronic sounds (although the keyboardist was doing a fantastic job mimicking the noises). But the sound was recognizable, too recognizable. When it first came out, it took the radio by storm, and it was impossible not to hear it at least 3 times in one day. Maeri spoke against it countless time with venomous words, claiming that it was the worst song ever made and the lyrics were written by a grade schooler. But it was all a lie. She loved it just as much as everybody else; she just hid it because she thought the cutesy track went against her tomboy image. And she was fully prepared to take that little secret to the grave, but like always, Woohyun had foil her plans. One day he had come into her bedroom announced, and he had caught her singing along to it as she blasted it through her boombox. The next day, he told everybody that Maeri was dancing around to that song and kissing posters of the band members, which was a complete lie (and disgusting because all of the members were significantly younger than her) but everyone still bought it anyway. For a month, Maeri couldn’t even approach her friends without them humming the song to her. You’d think after all of that, Maeri would hate the song, but, damn it, it was just too catchy.

“Noona neomu yeppeoseo,” Woohyun sang.

“I’m not your noona!” Maeri grumbled, but that did not even faze Woohyun or put a halt to his rhythm. In fact, it encouraged him. He stepped down from the stage and approached her. She tried to take a step back, but she ran into somebody behind her. The crowd nearly tripled after Woohyun started singing SHINee’s song. 

Smiling while singing, Woohyun grabbed her hand and dragged her onto the stage with him. I ’m not doing this alone. He could see her face burn redder and feel her palms grow damp with nervous sweat. It made him happy, having this effect on her. After pulling her on stage like a reluctant dog on a leash, he sat her down on a chair, and she automatically buried her beet-red face in her hands. He then sang and danced around her until the song was complete. And after he hit the last note, he knelt down in front of Maeri. Maeri peeked through the gaps in her fingers; he could see her eyes widen inquisitively. “Noona,” Woohyun said in an unusually deep voice. Maeri began to lower her hands; her face was still red. “I love you.” The crowd gasped a little and grew silent, waiting for the girl’s response. Woohyun pointed the microphone in her direction.

Maeri buried her face again. “I know!” she exclaimed muffled by her hands. The crowd laughed at her response. She was beginning to feel like she was on a variety show, and she knew exactly how to tie this segment up. “I love you too.”

The crowd cooed and clapped for the ‘happy’ couple, completely unaware of their game. And after they thanked the musicians for allowing them to use the equipment, they tried to leave, but the crowd enveloped them, and asked them several questions. Maeri left it to Woohyun to answer because she was too busy hiding her face in his coat, hoping that the blush would soon fade and had not been permanently painted onto her skin. She only lifted up her head after hearing a familiar voice asking, “I never thought you two would be such a romantic couple.”

“Unnie!” Maeri exclaimed, looking up and seeing Hani’s smiling face. “Don’t tell me you saw that!”

“Every last bit,” Hani answered, to which Maeri groaned and hung her head. “What? Why? It was cute,” Hani tried to comfort her.

Woohyun sighed dramatically looking at his dejected fiancee. “I guess not everybody can handle my cuteness. Was it really that bad?” he asked Hani.

Hani shook her head and patted Maeri’s hair. “Not at all. But you probably know as well as I do: Maeri gets easily embarrassed,” she explained.

“You’d think she’d be used to it after all of these years,” Woohyun joked. He tried to drag Maeri’s head up again by her ponytail, but she let it drop again right after he raised it. “Drama queen,” he muttered under his breath and shook his head. Turning towards Hani and ignoring his fiancee, he asked, “So what’s up?”

Hani shrugged. “Just heading back to work after my lunch break,” she answered, glancing at her watch. Her jaw dropped, and she gasped, “Eep! Which ended 5 minutes ago! I have to take off. Woohyun, good job.” She gave him a thumbs up; then she turned to Maeri and lifted up her chin with a giggle. “And buck up, Maeri. Worse things can happen than having your fiancee serenade you.” With those parting words, she waved goodbye and scurried off. But her steps quickly came to a halt, having remembered something. She turned around and called to them, “Oh yea. I heard someone talking about posting it on YouTube. Maybe you two will go viral.”

“Great,” the both said in unison, but with completely different tones. Woohyun’s was excited and hopeful, Maeri’s was dripping with sarcasm.


	15. "I dare you" (age 30) part 2

Woohyun’s office was filled with the sounds of him typing on the keyboard, trying desperately to finish Sungyeol’s quarterly report before it was too late in the evening. After returning from lunch, he practically did nothing except work on this report, and Maeri was quietly sitting in the corner, playing games on her phone. With the exception of daring him to spin around in his office chair until he blacked-out (his world just recently stopped spinning, but he still had an awful ringing in his ears), Maeri left him alone to work. Well, almost, her cursing at the games was quite distracting, but also somewhat funny to hear her curse at pigs and birds.

Then, it finally happened. Woohyun entered the last piece of data; he was finished, and relieved. He groaned and stretched, relishing in a job well done. Maeri heard this and looked up. “Finished?”

“Yup,” Woohyun answered, sending the report off in an email to Sungyeol.

Maeri jumped up from her spot and gave Woohyun a high-five. “Good job, sweetie,” she lauded. “Now what?”

A vibrating sound answered for him. Woohyun had an incoming text. He furrowed his eyebrows as he read, not expecting to receive one. He stared at the text blankly for a while, before remembering with a chuckle. “Right! I told Gyu that I would watch the soccer game with him and Dongwoo tonight.” He put the phone in Maeri’s hands and pointed at the text. “Look how excited Gyu is! He already ordered the chicken and put like 5 exclamation points in the text.”

Maeri smiled. “Aw! Cute.” She handed back the phone with a slight pout on her lips. “You guys became close quickly,” she stated carefully. 

Woohyun smiled at the text before putting the phone back into his pocket. “Yea, they say two things bring men closer,” he declared looking seriously at Maeri but cutely holding up 2 fingers. “Drinking,” he stated as he wiggled one finger. As he wiggled the other, he cheekily said, “And showering together.” He ended with an embarrassed chuckle, and Maeri went from nodding along to what he was saying to unhinging her jaw in shock. Woohyun closed for her bringing his knuckle under her chin. “Don’t look at me like that! We didn’t do it,” he responded. Then he leaned in closer to her and teased, “I only want to shower with you.”

“Shut up!” Maeri shouted as she shoved him away. “You’re full of it,” she insulted with her head hanging, her hair hiding her embarrassed smile.

Woohyun glanced at his phone and then back up to his friend. “Sorry about this. You probably wanted to do something else this evening,” he apologized.

Maeri jumped onto his desk. “Don’t be,” she said. “I’m your shadow today. I don’t really have a choice where I go.” She ended with an apathetic shrug. And she really didn’t care about what they did that evening. All that mattered today was Woohyun and his happiness.

“Ah! Right!” Woohyun exclaimed excitedly as he jumped out of his chair. Then he took a large stride to the right as he said, “So if I go here.” Maeri jumped down from the desk and took a large step as well. Woohyun took another one backwards. “Or here.” Maeri giggled and took a step forward. “Or…” Woohyun quickly grabbed his stuff and ran out the office door, laughing maniacally. 

“Stop it!” Maeri giggled and chased after him.

* * *

“Woohyunnie hubby,” Maeri said in a baby voice while Woohyun parked the car in front of Sunggyu’s (his old) apartment. She dramatically jutted out her lower lip, fixing her eyes on the man next to her, willing him to look at her.

And when he finally did, he grimaced and dragged his hand down her face. “Don’t act cute,” he reprimanded. “It doesn’t suit you. You’re 30. 30!”

Maeri tucked back in her lip and frowned for real. “But you still do aegyo. Why can’t I?” she argued.

“That one month that separates us makes a huge difference,” he explained as he got out of the car. Maeri followed his lead and closed the car door as she scoffed. Woohyun raised an eyebrow. “What? What is it?”

Maeri clasped her hands together as she slow walked up to the complex entrance with Woohyun, a playful bounce in her step. “What floor is your old apartment on?” Woohyun didn’t like the innocent tone in her voice.

“Wah! I moved out not that long ago, and you already forgot?” he complained and dug his knuckles into the sides of her head. “They do say your memory goes as you age.” 

Maeri batted away his hand and rubbed her new sore spot, but in spite of it all, she still had a trace of an innocent smile on her face. “Answer my question: how many floors?” she repeated.

Woohyun shot her a curious glance as he opened the door for her. “Four. Why?” he answered as she walked in.

“Let’s take the stairs then,” she suggested with a little hop in her step. Now Woohyun really wasn’t liking this.

“Why? Want to lose weight?” Woohyun walked up to her and pinched her in the side. “ You did eat a lot for lunch, and you do have a wedding dress to fit into.” He chuckled, and his eyes crinkled.

Maeri pouted. He was right for once. Now that they were actually planning things for the wedding now, the dress would have come too, along with the typical bride’s diet. But now wasn’t the time for it. Now was time for revenge after Woohyun made her chase after him not only out of the office but around the parking lot for a couple of laps. The only reason why he stopped to was because the security guard yelled at them to stop “acting like overgrown hooligans.” Yes, Maeri had enough of running today, and enough of stairs for that matter.

“I guess I’ll have to start my diet and exercise tomorrow,” she told Woohyun with a casual shrug. “Because I dare you to carry me up all of the stairs. I’m not used to all this walking and my legs hurt.” She bent over to begin rubbing her aching calves.

Woohyun shook his head as he looked at her. Maeri looked like an ahjummah, wincing as she rubbed the sore muscle and groaning. She looked as if all of the strength was sapped out of her body. “It’s hard to believe that you were an athlete at some point. Your body is so weak now,” he teased. Then she punched him in the calf. Okay so her strength was still there. Just her stamina was gone. He rolled his eyes and turned his back towards her. “Okay. Come on, hop on my back,” he commanded, gesturing at her to jump on his back, which she might have done a little too enthusiastically, causing him to groan under her weight. 

Woohyun did well, for the first flight of stairs. His step grew heavier as the climb went on. And Maeri felt heavier too. Was it possible that she was gaining weight as she was on his back? Did she have food? Was she eating? Woohyun licked his lips at the thought, his own stomach feeling empty. Sunggyu should have food, and there were just a few steps left. But Woohyun couldn’t keep it to himself anymore. “Oh my god! Can you weigh anymore? I can hear my back breaking,” he whined.

“Nope. Don’t care,” Maeri joked, rubbing her cheek next to his and kicking his sides with her heels. “Come on, Hyun. Go faster. The game’s about to start.” Woohyun sucked in a deep breath and was able to conquer the last few steps.

Finally after a few more sluggish steps, he was in front of Sunggyu’s door. “Finally! Knock...knock. Hurry!” he yelled impatiently. He was leaning over so that Maeri could reach the door.

“Okay. Okay. I’m knocking,” she responded pounding on the door.

The door opened in a few seconds. “Hyun!” Sunggyu said excitedly. Then his smile fell, and he blinked a few times as he was face to face with a giggling Maeri. “Oh? Maeri, you’re here too?”

“Yep!” Woohyun answered and practically threw Maeri off his back. She fell onto the floor. “She’s my shadow!” he explained pointing at the woman growling at him on the floor. “Hope you don’t mind.” 

Sunggyu shook his head. “Ah, no. I don’t mind at all. Come on in,” he ushered them inside. The couple stepped inside the familiar apartment and began to take off their winter coats, revealing their rather odd apparel underneath. Being a man, Sunggyu’s eyes first caught Maeri’s bare legs underneath the simple white button-down. But soon afterwards, Woohyun’s golden cardigan caught his attention with its brightness. “What are you wearing? What are you both wearing?” he demanded to know as they both made their way to the couch.

“Clothes!” the both of them answered excitedly in unison and giggled at each other.

Sunggyu rolled his eyes and tried again, “What’s going on here? You two are acting weirder than usual.”

“We’re playing a game of dares. And I’m winning!” Woohyun announced proudly as he plopped himself on the couch, putting his feet on the coffee table in front of him.

Maeri halted and stiffened. “Wait. Are you?” she asked dubiously, beginning to count the number on dares on her hand. Her frown deepening with each finger she put up.

“How do you win?” Sunggyu asked, sitting down next to his friends.

“Whoever runs out of dares first, loses.” He glanced over at Maeri who finished counting and was staring at her eight fingers. “She’s only got two left,” he boasted. 

Maeri put down her hands and crossed her arms. “I should’ve made a scoreboard,” she mumbled under her breath as she kicked the ground. 

Woohyun nudged Sunggyu and pointed at her. “Isn’t she cute when she’s losing?” he asked.

“Uh...yea,” he reluctantly said. He then turned his attention to Maeri who was still standing in front of them and mumbling to herself. “Um, Maeri, why don’t you sit down?” he suggested. Maeri sort of gave in and leaned onto the armrest next to Woohyun. Then he turned his head to the side. “Hey! Dongwoo! Woohyun and Maeri are here,” he announced in a loud voice.

Dongwoo poked his head out of his bedroom door. “Oh they are!” he exclaimed, a huge smile overwhelming his face. He walked out of his room. “Hey guys! What’s up?”

Woohyun shrugged as he took a pillow into his lap. “Nothing much.”

“Nothing much?” Sunggyu turned to him and repeated loudly. “You’re sitting there in a sparkly cardigan and a sheer shirt, and Maeri has no pants on.” He pointed at the woman partially sitting on the armrest.

Dongwoo tilted his head, but then he fell back as if he was literally hit with a realization. “Ah! Are you guys doing the dare thing again?” he guessed pointing between the couple. The both of them nodded. Dongwoo’s smile ripped open even wider as he bounced in his spot excitedly. “Ah man! It was so much fun last time. Woohyun streaked the quad. The campus police were chasing him down. Maeri...oh god...Maeri do you remember what you did? Kyakyakyakyakya,” he said slowly dissolving into laughter. Maeri looked away, her face growing red with embarrassment.

Sunggyu cocked his head. “What did you do?” he asked.

“I...flashed them...and threw up all over their shoes,” Maeri said quietly, crossing her arms and rubbing them with her hands. But it was loud enough for the other to hear. Sunggyu joined Dongwoo in a loud of laughter and Woohyun too. Maeri looked at the three boys and stomped her foot in frustration. “ I was blacked out thanks to someone. I had no idea what I was doing,” she tried to defend herself. Her eyes were boring through the back of Woohyun’s head, shaking as he laughed. At times like these, she wished she had laser vision.

Woohyun was panting heavily, wiping tears of happiness from his eyes. “Best night ever,” he said slowly. The other boys soon fell out of their bout as well. And Woohyun finally got a good look at Dongwoo. The slim man was dressed in skinny jeans and a nice plaid button down shirt with a wool cardigan thrown over. It contrasted starkly against his new roommate’s sweats, and the sweats Dongwoo would normally be wearing. “Woo, why you dressed like that? It’s a little too fancy to be sitting on the couch watching a game.”

Dongwoo straightened himself up and inhaled sharply, regaining his breath. “Whew...oh yea. I’m going to the bar with Hoya and Sungjong tonight.”

“What?” Woohyun asked in shock, his eyes slightly bulging from his head. “ You’re just going to abandon me for someone you just met? I thought 2Woo was important to you!” He leaned back into the couch, crossing his arms over his chest.

“2Woo?” Sunggyu glanced in between the two men with furrowed brows. “ I thought we were Donggyu?” he asked pointing at Dongwoo at himself.

“What about Maedong?” Maeri interjected herself into the debate. All three of the boys looked at her with raised eyebrows, silently staring. “What I can’t be in a pairing too?” she argued. Woohyun hit her gently with the back of his hand and pointed to his frowning face, mumbling something about “Woori” under his breath. Maeri rolled her eyes at him. She was only joking, but apparently none of the guys got it.  They take their bromances so seriously. Who do they think they are? Idols?

“I’m more of a fan of Hodong, actually,” Dongwoo resumed the conversation. Sunggyu and Woohyun looked at him blankly. “Me and Hoya,” he explained. Then those blank stares turned into dejected expression as the two boys simultaneously said ‘oh’ and looked down at the ground. “Oh come on guys! I’m allowed to have more friends than just you guys.”

“No you aren’t,” Woohyun said in all seriousness.

Dongwoo ignored him and grabbed for his wallet in a basket on the table by the door. “Bye guys!” he bid farewell as he stuffed the wallet in his back pocket. “ Have fun! I love you!” Then he was out the door.

“No you don’t!” Woohyun yelled after him. Then he sank back down into the couch. “ I can’t believe he just left us for Hoya.”

“And Sungjong,” Maeri added shaking her head. She turned to Woohyun and placed a hand on her hip. “Seriously that little scamp is befriending all my friends. Maybe he has a crush on me.” Woohyun just silently stared at her, allowing to arrive at her own conclusion. Maeri blushed and looked away. “Yea, that sounded stupid when I heard it too.”

“Soooo I guess it’s just us three,” Sunggyu awkwardly announced placing his hands on his knees.

Woohyun put an arm around Sunggyu’s should and drew him in. “It’s better this way,” he insisted. “We don’t need Dongwoo. Just as long as I have my best friend, Kim Sunggyu.” Sunggyu looked down but a smile could still be seen on his face.

“HEY!” Maeri yelled from the side.

Woohyun didn’t ever turn towards her, but kept his eyes on Sunggyu as he corrected himself, “My MALE best friend, Kim Sunggyu.”

“Whatever, I’ve known you longer,” she retorted standing up. Then she turned towards the two boys and innocently clasped her hands together again like she did when she asked Woohyun to carry her. “Hey Gyu, can I borrow some sweatpants?” she asked swinging her shoulders from side to side. “If we’re going to be sitting down and all. I kind of want to be comfy.” In fact that was the reason why she hadn’t sat down yet. She was all too aware of the boys staring at her legs (they weren’t even good-looking legs by far; they were short and thick with muscle, but they were still a woman’s legs). If she would have sat down, more of her legs would be exposed, and those tiny shorts she was wearing underneath wouldn’t help in the slightest. She fiddled with the hem of the shirt pulling it down as she was awaiting Sunggyu’s answer.

“Uh, sure,” his voice a bit dazed. Then he stood up from the couch. “Of course,” he answered a bit stronger.

At the same time, Woohyun also jumped up from the couch, pointing an accusing finger at Maeri. “No, NO! Cheater!” he objected. “I said all day in that outfit.”

Maeri closed her eyes and sighed, searching her mind for a solution. “Fine, if you let me wear sweatpants, you can take off your tie,” she proposed. “It must be feeling so constricting and tight, like it’s choking you.” She said while walking over to him, pulling the knot (which he had loosened earlier) closer and closer to his neck.

“Alright deal!” he immediately agreed, pulling the tie off and his cardigan as well. Although it wasn’t part of the deal, Maeri let the cardigan go as well. She then turned to see Sunggyu walking into his bedroom, and she followed him.

Once she stepped inside, she snorted a little. “Man, this room looks so different,” she mused studying the surroundings that looked so neat and clean (well with the exception of the pile of clothes accumulating in the corner of the room). The set up was still the same as before, which wasn’t surprising in such a small room like this one. So it seemed familiar yet so different at the same time. “I used to come in here all the time with Woohyun and...oh look baby Gyu!” Her eyes caught a glimpse of a picture frame on his dresser. It held a photo of him when he was around five (she wagered), with the rest family. She walked over to it and grabbed it placing next to his shocked face. “You look the exact same!” she teased. He then began to frown like he was doing in the photo, narrowing his eyes until they almost closed and jutting out his chin. 

“No I don’t!” he complained, taking the photo from her hands. “And didn’t your mother teach you not to touch other people’s things without their permission?” he reprimanded as he looked through his drawers. Then he turned around and shoved some grey capri sweatpants into her hands. “Here are the pants.” Maeri took them from him muttering words of thanks.

As she began to put on the capris (which were more like pants on her), she argued with the other, “Yes, my mother did. But we’re friends so sometimes those rules don’t apply and…”

“What are you doing?!” Sunggyu exclaimed as he ducked his head and closed his eyes tightly, turning his back to her. “Go to the bathroom and change,” he commanded, pointing out of the doorway.

“Chill,” Maeri retorted with a roll of her eyes (she was doing that a lot this evening). “ I’m putting on more clothes, not taking them off.” She finished what she was saying and pulling the pants up. She was now rolling the waistband to adjust the fit.

Sunggyu faced her again and pointed at her legs. “Yea but I could see...uh, never mind,” he gave up and rubbed the back of his neck apprehensively.

“See what?” Maeri asked, tilting her head trying to catch the other’s avoidant eyes.

“You’re a girl, and I’m not Woohyun,” he pointed out. 

“Well duh!”

Sunggyu shook his head because Maeri was not understanding what he was trying to say. “So don’t you think that there are some things you shouldn’t do around me?” he tried to explain again.

Maeri stiffened and stopped adjusting the waistband. She put her hands in front of her and twiddled her thumbs. “Probably,” she admitted sheepishly, looking down at her feet. She lifted her eyes up just a little to see Sunggyu looking down at her. She felt as if she was being scolded by her father. “But I feel comfortable around you, like I feel with Woohyun, even though I haven’t known you as long. And it’s okay because we’re all friends, right?” she asked in a low voice.

Sunggyu sighed and looked away. “But we’re not all friends. You’re...” he began to say, then he was interrupted by Woohyun.

“Hey Gyu, where’s the remote? I can’t find it,” he said putting his head out the door. He then scanned his former room, being overwhelmed by an old feeling of nostalgia. His old room, filled with new things, new furniture, new pictures. “Oh look baby Gyu! You look the exact same.” He grabbed the same photo Maeri did minutes earlier and put it next to Sunggyu’s face.

“Told you!” Maeri retorted, sticking out her tongue at the man next to her.

“Give me that back.” Sunggyu tore the photo from Woohyun and placed it back in its rightful place. Then he stormed out of the room.

Maeri turned to Woohyun. “Oooooh, you made Gyu mad,” she said in a hushed voice.

“Me?” he pointed to himself with innocent wide eyes. “You did!” he argued poking a finger in her chest. He followed Sunggyu out the door, leaving Maeri alone in the boy’s room.

We’re not friends?

* * *

“Come on, ref! Are you blind? That was a foul. He went for the legs and not the ball. You dumb-butt! You big, fat, blind dumb-butt. Eh, he’s a shitty player anyways. Yea, hit him again in the legs, and if we’re lucky, he’ll get injured, and they’ll put a sub in. Hit him all you want! Harder! You pansies!” Maeri was leaned forward, yelling profanities at the t.v., sitting on one end of the couch, Sunggyu was on the other, and Woohyun was in between. After she was done with her tirade, she leaned back, sinking into the couch. She widened her stance as well, placing her hands in the wide space between her legs.

“Look at her,” Woohyun scoffed, speaking to Sunggyu. He shook his head. “How did I end up getting engaged to a woman like that?” He closed his eyes tightly, imagining his ideal wife in his head. A nice woman with a polite smile, sitting up straight in her seat with her legs crossed, her long dark brown hair cascading down one of her shoulders. He opened his eyes and peeked at Maeri. Her hair was carelessly thrown in a ponytail, and a pout formed on her face, legs spread. And he was going to marry  it .

“Are you sure she’s even a woman?” Sunggyu took the words right out of his mouth.

“Haha. Very funny,” Maeri responded dryly.

“Honey, look at the way you’re sitting,” Woohyun reprimanded. Maeri looked down and automatically closed her legs, sitting up straighter. Woohyun tsked and shook his head, looking Maeri up and down. “All you need is a can of beer and the picture would be complete. In fact, Shadow, every time I drink, you drink. It’s a dare.” He handed her a can of beer as he grabbed one for himself. He held his can up, staring her down, and opened it. With a sigh, she did too.

“Woo…” she began, but then Woohyun took a swig from his can. Held by the laws of the dare, she took one too. After swallowing hard, she tried to say again, “It’s not…” Woohyun took another drink and she did too. “You have…” He drank again. “Tolerance!” she exclaimed coughing down her last sip. Woohyun began chuckling at her sputtering.

He nudged the boy next to him with his elbow. “Gyu, watch. You’re about to witness something magical soon, drunk Maeri,” he announced. Then he turned back to his fiancee and finished off the rest of the beer, holding it upside down to prove it was empty. She did the same, and he handed her another can. 

Sunggyu was carefully watching the both of them. “Really what is she like?” he asked.

Woohyun turned his attention back to his friend. “She becomes like a child. And blunt as hell.”

Maeri stamped her foot and objected, “I do not! I am a lady.” Her hand was over her chest.

While Woohyun’s eyes was still fixed on Sunggyu, he yelled, “Yah! Close your legs.” Maeri snapped her wide open legs shut again. Woohyun chuckled, still facing Sunggyu. “She just closed them, didn’t she?”

Sunggyu shook his head and laughed. “You guys know each other too well. What is she thinking?” he whispered the question loudly to Woohyun, making sure Maeri overheard.

“He’s never going to get it right,” Maeri said as Woohyun turned towards her. He popped the tab of a new can of beer and took a long sip, narrowing his eyes on hers. Maeri did the same like a good shadow, even scratching her knee like Woohyun unconsciously did (he didn’t know that she was even mimicking him to that level, but it gave her some sort of pleasure nonetheless). 

“You want me to stop drinking,” Woohyun finally guessed. 

“Other than that,” Maeri replied with a snort. Woohyun shrugged. Maeri motioned to Woohyun to move in closer, and reluctantly he leaned in. Maeri looked past him to Sunggyu. Woohyun followed the path of her eyes and raised a questioning eyebrow. “ I think it’s time we get Gyu in on this game.”

Sunggyu choked on his own beer after hearing her suggestion. “Huh?”

* * *

Woohyun and Maeri were sitting on the floor at the coffee table; their legs stretched out underneath the table. Sunggyu, on the other hand, was laying on the couch, eating a drumstick and making loud chewing sounds as he did so (the chicken that Sunggyu had ordered finally arrived). Maeri grimaced, not at the gross sound but at the large stack of papers that laid ahead of herself and her fiance. “Seriously? We could do anything for you. Anything! And you want us to grade your tests?” she whined, shaking her legs under the table in frustration.

Sunggyu wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before answering, “Have you ever graded before? It’s tedious.” He stretched and turned towards the coupled. “Worst part of being a teacher.”

“What’s the best part?” Woohyun asked as he started grading. Maeri was surprised how he followed this dare without putting up a fight. Either he really respected the rules of the game (which she doubted because he tried to cut corners and find loopholes at every opportunity he got) or he  really  liked Sunggyu and wanted to help him. Maeri looked back at the chicken-eating boy on the couch.  I’m Woohyun’s best friend, you little ...

Unaware of Maeri’s inner monologue, Sunggyu answered honestly, “I get a lot of breaks.”

Maeri slammed the pen she was grading with on the coffee table dramatically. She faced the boy on the couch. “Wah! And here I thought you were on a mission to reform or inspire the youths or whatever they always do in high school movies,” she chided.

“Nope,” Sunggyu answered with a smile. “Pretty much in it for the breaks. But being an influence on kids is pretty awesome too.”

Maeri scoffed in disbelief and focused back on the task at hand, the large still unfinished task at hand. Sunggyu was right: grading is tedious. But leave it to Woohyun to make the most mundane assignment fun. Maeri looked over at him, seeing him hunched over the piece of paper, smiling to himself as he hummed. “Hyun. What are you doing?” she asked, wondering what was so amusing.

“Drawing hearts. This girl got a 95%,” he bluntly replied.

“Oh good idea,” she lauded. “Do you have stickers?” she asked Sunggyu.

“Oh like gold stars?” Woohyun asked excitedly, liking her idea. 

“No. Why would I?” Sunggyu answered as he sat up himself up on the couch.

“You’re officially the worst teacher ever,” Maeri teased, turning towards Sunggyu, abandoning grading for arguing with the other. “No gold stars. Why would anybody want to do well on a test?”

And Sunggyu was more than willing to fight back with some words of his own. “For the good grades and a sense of accomplishment.” Maeri grimaced. Sunggyu laughed ostentatiously as he pointed right in her face. “Wah! You really do become a child!”

Woohyun turned to the arguing duo, staring at his friend in all seriousness. “Gyu...she’s not even drunk yet. This is how Maeri is normally.” His eyes then crinkled in delight as he saw disbelief sweep across Sunggyu’s face.

After recovering, Sunggyu patted Woohyun on the back. “Really? I pity you. What did you do in your past life to deserve a woman like that?” his voice full of sympathy.

Woohyun hung his head and mumbled, “I must have been a traitor.”

Maeri narrowed her eyes on the two boys. “Shut up before I hit the both of you,” she growled through gritted teeth.

Woohyun then leaned back, using Sunggyu’s legs as a barrier between him and Maeri. “Gyu...she scares me,” he whimpered to his friend. Maeri gave him a sharp slap. That’s when Woohyun pulled himself up and pointed at Maeri, his finger poking her nose. “That’s it. There’s not enough room on the couch for the three of us.”

* * *

And that’s how Maeri ended up standing in the corner of the living room, while the two boys were spread out on the couch, comfortable; however, Woohyun wasn’t satisfied with only that. She was also standing on one leg, but Maeri was smarter than that. She was leaning against the wall to support herself, but that did not help her exhaustion. And with Woohyun’s beer dare, she was starting to feel light-headed and...hungry, very hungry. But the chicken was all the way on the coffee table, and Woohyun specifically said to stay in the corner until he forgave her.  I’ll be standing here until I die.

“Can I have some chicken?” she asked, licking her lips.

Woohyun faced her and sneered, “No. You stand there and think about what you’ve done. It’s not nice to hit your husband.” He turned his attention back at the game. “You’re lucky I didn’t call the authorities on you.”

“You deserved it,” she mumbled underneath her breath, but it was unfortunately loud enough for Woohyun to hear. He took the beer in his hand and polished it off, staring her down. Maeri sighed and drank her own. 

Still staring at the t.v., Sunggyu shook his head. “You guys are without a doubt the weirdest couple I’ve ever met,” he said.

“If by weird, you mean totally awesome, then yes we are,” Woohyun said with a chuckle. Then the ref’s whistle blew, calling a break within the game. Woohyun jumped up with an impatient expression on his face. “Oh, thank god. It’s halftime. I have to pee,” he said in exasperation and run off into the bathroom.

Maeri scoffed. “And he yells at me for not being ladylike.”  Guys can say whatever they want. Double standard.

“Here.” A piece of chicken was pushed under her nose. She looked over and saw that Sunggyu had slid over to her on the couch and was offering her the piece of fried poultry. “It’s not good to drink on an empty stomach,” he reprimanded pushing the chicken to her lips.

Maeri took it with her teeth before accepting it with her hands. “Thanks,” she said after greedily swallowing the piece whole. Sunggyu smiled and handed her another piece. Maeri looked down at the second piece of chicken in her hands and then over to Sunggyu who had apparently found the vitamin commercial on the t.v. very interesting. The atmosphere felt a bit awkward and quiet. Maeri took a bite.  We’re not all friends , she thought while she chewed. “Hey Gyu! We’re friends, right?” she blurted out, mouth still filled with food.

Sunggyu looked slightly taken aback. “Yes. Why?” he asked. Then he smirked and leaned over. “Do you want to ask for a favor?” he asked in a hushed voice.

“No, just for reassurance,” Maeri replied with a slight smile. The atmosphere was lightening. She leaned in too and raised an eyebrow. “But will you really do a favor for me?”

“Of course,” he immediately answered, but then he pulled back a little. “It depends on what it is.”

“Ummmm…” Maeri hummed in thought, rolling the chicken bone in her hand. “Will you...eat this for me?” she asked with a little laugh, putting the chicken bone into his hand.

Sunggyu stared at the bone and then looked up at her with a judging stare. “That’s not a favor. That’s a dare. I’m not getting anymore involved in yours and Woohyun’s little games,” he stated, clutching the bone in his fist.

Maeri shook her head adamantly. “Nu uh, it’s a favor,” she insisted. Then she pointed to the garbage can over on the other side of the room. “You’re saving me a trip to a trash can that alllll the way over there.” And although it was across the room, it was just a few steps away.

He laughed. “Or I could just do this,” he said as he got up from the couch and threw it into the can for her. 

“It’s not as fun,” Maeri called to him with a large smile on her face.

So we are friends...but then what did he mean earlier by we’re not all friends , Maeri pondered as she rested her head back on the wall. It was spinning due to the alcohol and the exertion from standing on one foot.  We’re  not all friends. We’re not all  friends . We’re not...all...friends . She repeated to herself until the conclusion finally dawned on her, as she saw Woohyun step out of the bathroom, fastening his belt. There was a glint coming off of his finger as it moved under the light, from their engagement ring. Maeri’s eyes widened.  We’re not  all friends. Woohyun’s friends with Gyu. I’m friends with Gyu, but Woohyun and I are engaged. Woohyun looked up from his belt, and his eyes met with Maeri’s. He smiled brightly probably thinking that she wasn’t able to keep her eyes off of her “super attractive” fiance. Maeri smiled in return, realizing that she had been spacing out, and turned her head, her eyes now falling on Sunggyu, returning from the throwing the chicken bone into the garbage. His smile from earlier had significantly diminished, and his shoulders looked slightly hunched as he quickly sat down, as if he didn’t want to be in the way of Woohyun and Maeri.  He...he doesn’t feel like a third wheel, does he? Maeri bit her lip. She and Woohyun did have that effect on people, accidentally excluding everyone else and only paying attention to each other, like with this game. Maybe if we found another wheel? A fourth wheel? And then we can be a whole car! ...Dang! I drank way too much. She started blinking her eyes quickly as if it would clear her head.

“Honey,” Woohyun called her out of her fog. Both him and Sunggyu were back sitting on the couch. He was bouncing up and down with excitement. “We forgot to tell Gyu and Dongwoo the big news.” 

Sunggyu tapped his finger on the chin as he pondered. “You got a promotion? You’re adopting a dog? You learned how to use the bathroom properly?” he guessed. 

Woohyun chuckled and shook his head, looking like Maeri did a few seconds earlier (they had been around each other so much that they picked up each other’s habits). “Nooooo. Don’t schedule anything for April 19 th ,” he ordered, wagging his finger at his friend.

“Why?”

“That’s when we’re getting married,” Woohyun happily answered. Sunggyu’s eyes widened in shock. Woohyun chuckled, “Not you and me. Maeri and I.” He gestured to the girl still leaning against the wall.

Maeri leaned forward to get in their line of vision and waved. “Hello! Still here,” she reminded them.

“Oh...really?” Sunggyu replied. 

“Yep,” Woohyun still excitedly replied. “So you better get a date ready,” he demanded of his friend. Sunggyu looked away and blushed.

“Oh oh oh! I have the best idea EVER!” Maeri exclaimed hopping over on one foot over to the couch. But then her knees locked and her ankle turned, causing her to come tumbling down in front of the two boys who were just watching her fall down with their mouths agape. Maeri waved her hand as she grimaced in acute pain. “I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s just that my leg finally gave out.”

Finally one of the boys moved. “Come over here,” Woohyun said gently pulling her onto the couch next to him, pushing Sunggyu to the end to make room for his fiancee. “Dare over,” he announced while patting her on the head, thinking her clumsiness to be cute for once (he used to find it annoying but that was mostly because she would trip, grab him, and take him down with her. Now that he was safe on the couch, it was kind of cute). And Maeri looked relieved to be sitting down again, forgetting why she got so worked up in the first place. “What’s the idea?” Woohyun prodded her memory. 

“Oh!” Maeri exclaimed. She was massaging her calve muscles again. She faced Woohyun with a mischievous smile. “Unnie,” she answered while nudging Woohyun in the shoulder, hoping that he would read her mind.

And he did. “Ooooooh! That’s a great idea!” he yelled slapping Maeri excitedly.

And not being telepathically connected like the two of them, Sunggyu was completely lost as he watched the two of them getting into a playful slap-fight. “Uh, you guys are gonna have to fill me in,” Sunggyu said, reminding them of his presence.

Maeri leaned forward and dramatically pointed at the man on the other side of the couch. “Kim Sunggyu, I dare you to go on a blind date with Hani-unnie,” she demanded.

“Huh?” Sunggyu said with a shocked voice and raised eyebrows. Then he left out a short laugh. “You can’t dare me to do anything. I’m not part of your game,” he explained.

Maeri wouldn’t drop her finger, and she furrowed her eyebrows, glaring at him. “I double dog dare you,” she challenged.

Sunggyu sighed. Judging by the rosiness of her cheeks, Maeri was now officially drunk and entering into her child-like mindset. “Maeri…” he began in a calm voice.

“Triple dog dare you!” Maeri barked. “I dare you times infinity!”

Woohyun was getting worked up alongside Maeri, almost as fargone as she was. He was shimming back and forth. “Oooooooh, you can’t back out now, Gyu. That’s a very serious dare.”

Sunggyu sighed. “I can’t win against you two, can I?”

“Nope!” The both of them said in unison. It was eerie how much the were similar, like siamese twins sometimes.

Woohyun could read the apprehension on his friend’s face. He nudged the other. “If it makes you feel better, we can make it a double date. You and Hani-noona and me and Maeri,” he proposed, gesturing at the three of them.

“Sounds like fun,” Sunggyu said dryly finishing off the rest of his beer. (sarcastically)

“It will be,” Woohyun insisted. “Trust us.”

Maeri leaned forward and pouted. “Do you not trust us?” she asked. Sunggyu looked away.

Woohyun hung his head and sadly swung his feet. “I thought I was your best friend,” he mumbled sadly, letting out a large sigh.

“Fine!” Sunggyu finally gave in, not being able to handle the both of them looking so sad. He turned to Woohyun. “She better be pretty,” he said.

“She’s beautiful,” Woohyun promptly answered.

“Is she prettier than Maeri?” Sunggyu asked, shooting a quick glance at the woman at the other end. “You know, as a scale,” he quickly finished.

“Maeri?” Woohyun turned towards his fiancee who was smiling sweetly at him, blinking more than was necessary, smiling so wide every tooth and inch of gums can he seen. He looked her up and down slowly with analyzing eyes. He shrugged. “Eh, she’s alright. But she’s not nearly as pretty as noona.” He began chuckling. 

Maeri immediately frowned and pushed Woohyun off of the couch, spreading her legs to the spot he just left to prevent him from climbing back on. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Everytime he tried to climb back on Maeri would shove him back down. Eventually Sunggyu joined in too because it looked like fun and Maeri looked like she was about to lose. 

After struggling for 10 minutes, Woohyun finally got his upper body laying out on the couch. Unfortunately, the only reason why it was there was because Maeri had it pinned down underneath her body. He thought that she was heavy earlier; now it was like an elephant was sitting on him. And sadly this wasn’t the first time this every happened to him. Normally Woohyun would be able to overpower her, but since Sunggyu was helping her, it was harder to win her over. Woohyun turned his head to face his friend, his cheek smushed against the couch.  He’s supposed to be  my friend.

Sunggyu didn’t notice his friend’s stares because he was too busy laughing. “Sooooo this what you guys do on a normal night?” he asked.

“No,” Woohyun’s voice was muffled against the cushion. “Sometimes I’m on top,” he said cheekily. Maeri slapped him on the butt, which was conveniently right in front of her. “Owwwww,” Woohyun whimpered dramatically.

“You guys are the weirdest couple ever,” Sunggyu declared, shaking his head at them.

“You’re the weirdest couple ever,” Maeri retorted. Then she looked at the beer can in her hand, frowned, and immediately put it down. “I think I should stop drinking.” Woohyun laughed to himself.  She finally realized she’s drunk an hour too late. But since she seemed a little more with it, Woohyun silently gestured to her to get off of him, and she did with an apologetic smile on her face.

Once she got off and he could breath easier again, Woohyun said, “Eung, and we should go home. After all, it’s a school night.” He looked at Sunggyu with a cheeky smirk.

“Don’t want to get in trouble with the teacher,” Maeri joined in on the teasing.

Sunggyu looked at them dubiously and pouted. “You guys are leaving so soon?”

Woohyun smiled brightly. “Why do you want us to stay forever?” he suggested.

“Sleep-over!” Maeri suggested with a shout. Then Woohyun fell into the chant with her. “Sleep-over! Sleep-over! Sleep-over!”

Sunggyu got up and started to clean up the mess of beer cans, empty boxes, and chicken bones. “Yea. You guys should leave,” he announced, not giving into their request or annoying chanting. “Let me call you a taxi. I don’t think either of you should drive.”

“Aw, Gyu, taking care of us,” Woohyun cooed grabbing his friend’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “I love you

Maeri rested her chin on her finace’s shoulder. “I wuv you too!” she confessed to Sunggyu with a giggle.

Sunggyu looked at the couple for just a few minutes, just blinking. Then he slid his hand from Woohyun’s grasp. “Uh…thanks,” he said as he dug that hand into his pocket (the other was holding a box full of trash). He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a number. “Ah, yes, hello. Can I have a taxi?” he asked as he walked away to throw the box away. And while he was gone, Maeri attempted to tied up in her intoxicated state. But she just ended up putting things into messy piles, perhaps making it messier than it was before (but it’s the thought that counts, right?). Woohyun on the other hand was laying, fully spread out on the couch. His eyes were shut tightly, about to fall asleep himself. Sunggyu was right: they were in no condition to drive home. They were in no condition to even walk home. They might stumble into an alley and curl up in a dumpster for all he knew. Sunggyu came back and shook his head at the couple. “It should be here soon,” he announced putting the phone back in his pocket.

Woohyun suddenly perked up and jumped from the couch. He tended to rally fast, probably due to his quick metabolism. Maeri on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky. She still hadn’t even noticed Sunggyu had walked back in and was still “arranging” the trash. Woohyun pulled her up by her collar. “Thanks for having us over,” he thanked, bowing and making Maeri bow with him. She was starting to catch up. “I’ll text you details about your date later. Are you free Saturday?” he asked as he pulled Maeri towards the door, and helped her into her coat. She giggled as he tied the tie of her coat around her waist. Sunggyu nodded slowly. “Good,” Woohyun said happily as he put on his own coat.

“Oh,” Maeri gasped turning to face Sunggyu. She reached underneath her coat as she muttered. “Your pants.”

Sunggyu put his hands over hers to stop her. “Keep them,” he said gently, pulling back his hand. “You can give them back to me later.”

“Thanks Gyu,” she chirped putting her coat back down.

Woohyun grabbed her hand in his. “Come, Honey, the meter’s running,” he said giving her hand a squeeze. And they both waved and bid farewell to their mutual friend, scurrying out of the apartment. 

As soon as the door closed behind them, Maeri halted. Woohyun tried to pull on her hand, then the pulling soon turned to yanking, but Maeri was still rooted in the same spot. Woohyun soon stopped yanking so hard, realizing that it was useless; instead he weakly pulled her hand, whining, refusing to use his words like Maeri refused to move. “Sweetie,” Maeri whined in response. Woohyun looked up at her curiously. She let go of his hand and lifted both of her arms in his direction. “Carry me again!”

Woohyun smiled. “Are you sure?” he asked, trying to make sure. They had both given a dare to Sunggyu like the did to Sungyeol (but the former was a little more wise yet a little less kniving with his). That meant Maeri only had one dare left, that she had just used to repeat one she had before. It was going to be a three-peat for Woohyun.

Maeri pouted and nodded, shaking her arms up and down. Woohyun smiled triumphantly as he took her on his back again and made his way out of the building, but this time, he took the elevator.

* * *

The next morning, Woohyun’s head was aching dully, and his mouth felt like it was filled with cottonballs. He turned onto his side, looking at the alarm it. It was still an hour earlier than he normally woke up, but it was the perfect time to enact his last dare. He scooted over on the bed, closer to the woman also lying in it with her back turned towards him. Woohyun began poking incessantly in between her shoulders blades. She began to shift, and Woohyun poked harder.

“Stop!” Maeri whined, slapping behind her. “It’s too early.”

“Honey,” Woohyun whispered hotly into her ear, making sure to coat his morning breath all over her face.

Maeri was now officially awake and angry. “What?” she asked in an annoyed voice, shifting onto her back to look at Woohyun.

“I dare you to make me breakfast. A big one!” Woohyun ordered excitedly.

Maeri furrowed her eyebrows and brought the sheets up to her chin. “Why?” she whined.

“If you cooked for me more often, I wouldn’t have to dare you to,” he chided her, paraphrasing what she had said to him the day before about paying for meals. Maeri frowned, knowing that he was right. There was a lot that the both of them had to work on in their relationship.

“Okay,” she gave in, throwing off the covers and getting out of bed.

“And make it spicy too!” Woohyun added. “Oh! And some egg rolls too!” Maeri nodded, slowly making her way out of the room. “Oh and Honey.” Maeri turned around with narrowed eyes wondering what else he could demand. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked. She cocked her head in response, not having a clue. Woohyun puckered his lips. She understood now. She rolled her eyes and walked back to the bed, giving her fiance a quick peck on the lips before she left to complete his list of demands. And Woohyun curled up in all of the sheets, and fell back asleep for a bit longer.

* * *

When he woke up again, he walked briskly into the kitchen, wondering how Maeri managed. He was greeted with a strange smell, which wasn’t weird or unexpected. Maeri was an awful cook and knew more about how to service her car than to navigate a kitchen. In fact, she was pouring the soup from the steaming pot into the bowls with a regular spoon and not a ladle.  Such simple things, and she has no idea , Woohyun chuckled to himself. He sat down at the table, watching her serve him with a smile. “Yep! This was definitely the best way to use my last dare and end the game.” Maeri sat down across from him with a slight smile on her face, but Woohyun hardly noticed and continued bragging. “You’re never going to be able to win against me. Maybe next time, I’ll go easy on you,” he ended with a wink.

Maeri played with her soup. “But, Sweetie, we aren’t even done with this game,” she revealed with a saccharine voice.

Woohyun dropped his spoon. “W-what do you mean?” He went over the previous day’s events in his head, counting up all the dares. “No, no you used the last one to carry you back home,” he insisted.

Maeri laughed, somewhat evilly, causing Woohyun to shiver deep into his bones. “I never dared you to do that. I only asked.” She had finally done it. She found the loophole, seized the opportunity to finally one-up Nam Woohyun. Maeri had actually won. Woohyun cursed himself for being so hasty and for prematurely celebrating.

“So what is it?” Woohyun asked. “What is it that you want me to do?” This had never happened before. He didn’t know how it would go. He always beat Maeri in everything (mostly). But there was one thing he was positive about: Maeri was a fan of revenge.

“Oh, Sweetie, you’re already doing it,” she replied. Woohyun raised an eyebrow as he lifted a spoonful of soup past his lips. Once that liquid entered his mouth, it burned like hot lava, tearing at the lining of his throat, making it feel dry instead of wet and quenched. He coughed up the small spoonful he had. He looked down at the bowl with tears in his eyes. It was practically red with the amount of pepper flakes swimming about in it. “You said you liked it spicy,” Maeri retorted with a face too cheerful for Woohyun’s liking. “And I dare you to eat it. Alllllllll of it,” she finished gesturing at the spread in front of him. The rice was burnt, the egg rolls were too runny, and even the kimchi looked rotten.  Yoo Maeri, you are the absolute worse. The worse cook. The worse wife. The worse friend . Maeri got up, walked over to his side, and gripped his shoulders. “You said you wanted a big breakfast.” She pecked him sweetly on the cheek. “Have a nice day, Sweetie.”

“I hate you,” Woohyun called out to her as she walked back into the bedroom to change.

“I love you too!” Maeri could care less about his words or his sore attitude. She won. She had finally one.  Today was going to be a good day .


	16. "I hate you so much right now." (age 18)

“Psst! Psst!” Maeri heard a hiss coming from behind her and a pencil digging into her back.

Maeri whipped her head back, her ponytail hitting her cheek. She caught sight of Woohyun with a large smile on his face. “I’m bored,” he confessed. His hand was lazily flipping through the book in front of him. Maeri wasn’t surprised. Sometimes she swore that her friend had ADHD because he was unable to sit still. And he swore that Maeri had OCD because her intense level of concentration when it came to studying, but her room was too messy for that. She must have been just a nerd.

Maeri smirked. “You’re supposed to be bored. You’re in study hall,” she harshly whispered back. “Now leave me alone, or we’ll get in…”

“Yoo Maeri,” the teacher called to her from the front of the class. The two friends automatically stiffened and sat up pin-straight in their seats. “Is there a problem? Do you have a hard time understanding the silent part of ‘Silent Study Hall’?” he threatened. This teacher in particular was known for his shrewdness and zero tolerance. He loved nothing more than to blemish a student’s near perfect record. Woohyun’s record was as spotty as a pimply teenager, but Maeri’s was near spotless save for a few tardies and sick days. So the teacher had set his sights on Yoo Maeri, waiting for her to slip up.

“No seonsaengnim,” Maeri replied with a mousy voice. She heard Woohyun scoff at her obedience. This teacher was really working on his last nerve. It wasn’t bad enough that he was forcing them to study in complete silence (or for Woohyun, just blankly staring at a page for a whole class period), but he had noticed how the teacher looked at Maeri out of the corner of his eye, like some hawk circling its prey before swooping in. Woohyun clenched his pencil in his fist. He wish that he could do something about it, but he was powerless against a teacher. It was frustrating.

He tried to take his mind off of it by actually trying to read the book in front of him. That was frustrating too. It was some play translated from a weird sort of English into Korean, which made it sound even weirder. Nothing in it made sense. It appeared to be some play about fairies in the woods, kidnapping people, and making them fall in love with each other. And one of the fairies had a head of a donkey? Or the bottom of a donkey? Or was his name ‘bottom’? Woohyun wasn’t sure at all what was going on. He looked over to his desk partner. Seungho was dead asleep and drooling on the math worksheets underneath him. Woohyun snickered. Only Seungho would be able to get away with sleeping throughout this entire period. Woohyun’s record may have been spotty like a dalmatian, but Seungho’s was almost entirely black. The study hall proctor had no interest in painting it wholly black. Seungho was already a lost cause (although who knew that Seungho would get his act together at a college that he just barely got into and later became a high-powered lawyer).

There was only one way to clean up this mess of fairies in Woohyun’s head, and it was sitting in front of him. “Psst! Maeri,” he hissed as he tugged on her ponytail.

Maeri’s hand flew to the back of her head as she whispered back, “What?”

“Maeri, I don’t understand this,” he sadly said, pointing at the pages in front of him.

Maeri looked down at the play and back up at  him. “What part?”

“All of it,” Woohyun confessed with an embarrassed giggle.

Maeri’s forehead wrinkled, and she turned around, bowing back down over her desk, furiously studying like she had been moments earlier. Woohyun frowned and fingered the pages in front of him. He should have expected as much from a teacher’s pet. The hawk had laid eyes on her, and she was trying her best to lay perfectly still, to blend in with her surroundings. Woohyun slowly laid his head on his desk. Maybe he could get away with sleeping like Seungho. All he would probably get in return is a sharp slap on the back of the neck either coming from the teacher or Maeri. Either way, he could deal with that. But as he closed his eyes, he didn’t feel a slap on the back of his neck, but something softly falling on top of his head. Woohyun opened his eyes and shook his head a little, knocking the folded piece of paper from on top of his head onto his desk. It was a note. He glanced up at Maeri’s back who was still diligently working, and her desk partner Yerim was busy cleaning her nails. Maybe it was from her.

Woohyun slowly opened it up to reveal a page long summary written along the ruled lines:

**Hermia is supposed to marry Demetrius, but she doesn’t want to because she’s in love with Lysander. Lysander loves her back which is nice, and they run away into the woods to elope. Helena tells Demetrius the plan because, I don’t know, she has some silly notion that he would give up on Hermia and marry her instead; she’s crazy about Demetrius. So the plan backfires because Demetrius goes to follow them so that he can kill Lysander. Anyway, so the four of them are in the woods, and Oberon, the fairy king, sees this messed up love triangle and gets his fairy servant Puck to fix it with a love charm. But Puck messes up bigtime, and both Lysander and Demetrius is in love with Helena, who thinks it’s a cruel joke because they hated her earlier. I don't blame her. And then Hermia hates Helena for turning the boys against her. She's just jealous. So eventually the boys try to duel to the death for Helena’s heart, but Puck removes the charm from Lysander.  And in the end, Lysander loves Hermia, and Demetrius loves Helena, just like it should be.**

Woohyun looked back up at Maeri with a smile. It made a bit more sense, but only just a bit. He still had several questions. Instead of poking her again, and making her turn around, Woohyun leaned forward slowly and whispered just behind her neck, “But what about Mr. Donkey-head?”

Maeri jumped up and shivered at the sudden blast of warm air on her neck. “He’s comic relief,” she mumbled back after recovering.

Woohyun leaned in closer. “Why?”

He saw Maeri’s shoulder shift uncomfortably, and he pulled back a little. “Because the fairy queen falls in love with an annoying man with a donkey head,” she answered, trying to hide the fact that she was talking by lowering her head and bringing a hand to her face.

“That’s not funny. That’s gross,” Woohyun retorted with a chuckle.

“Must have been funny back then,” Maeri hurriedly said, hoping that this conversation would soon be over. She could feel the teacher’s eyes burning through the top of her skull.

“Is there really a character named Fu-” Woohyun began to ask, but was cut off. Maeri was glad that he never finished the question, but on the other hand...

“Yoo Maeri, what did I say about being quiet?” the teacher asked looming over her and Woohyun. And like a hawk, he was silent and swift with he lurched upon his prey. They were trapped.

“B-but, seonsaengnim, I was just helping-” Maeri tried to defend herself, but the teacher raised his hand, effectively cutting her off.

“If Woohyun needed help, he would have gone to the tutoring center,” he retorted, glaring at the anxious boy behind Maeri. “Both of you, see me after class,” he demanded, stalking his way down the aisle.

“Yes, seonsaengnim,” Maeri responded with a shaky voice. Her back was hunched more than ever know. Woohyun harshly swallowed, trying to get rid of the lump of guilt in his throat. He didn’t want to even begin to think how she was going to make him pay for this (although he was pretty sure that he could melt her bad mood away with a large bowl of ice cream).

* * *

“Look. See I told you. Pay up!”

Hyunsuk dug into his school pants, dragged out a few bills, and stuffed them into Seungho’s open palm. He shook his head in disappointment. “Wah! I never thought that I’d see the day.”

Maeri groaned, closing her eyes, wishing that the two boys standing in the threshold would just disappear. They were gawking at her, at the rare sight of her being in detention. Her, Yoo Maeri, a straight-laced student, who rarely did anything wrong, was in detention for trying to help her friend, who was sitting right next to her with a guilty expression. Maeri let out a bigger sigh, hoping that her spirit would leave her body at the same time because her life was over anyways. She slumped onto the desk in front of her, hiding her face in her arms. “Make them go away,” she begged Woohyun.

And Woohyun was chomping at the bit for any opportunity to alleviate his guilt. “Shut up, Seungho!” he yelled at his friend at the door. “You’re acting like you’ve never seen the detention room before.”

Seungho didn’t even flinch and leaned on the doorframe coolly.“Yea, but I never thought I would see Maeri in one,” he said back.

“What a rebel!” Hyunsuk chimed in.

Maeri lifted her head from the desk to attempt to kill Hyunsuk and Seungho with her ‘laser’ gaze, but before she could do that, her eyes caught something else, a mop of flopping black hair, a boy with a camera around his neck (probably off to take pictures of some club event). But the boy immediately stopped after catching sight of his friends and peered into the room. “Oh, so it is true,” he said with an amused voice.

“M-myungsoo?” Maeri stuttered. Woohyun winced. Of course the one thing that would make the situation worse just happened. It would take more than just ice cream and an apology for Maeri to forgive him.

“I always thought you were such a good girl,” Myungsoo joked, shaking his head at the scene. Maeri whimpered and hid her blushing face in her arms again. Woohyun patted her back.

“Myung, take a photo for the yearbook,” Hyunsuk suggested with an evil smirk. “I want to remember this.”

Myungsoo looked at his camera and then to the distraught girl in detention. With a hesitant bite of his lip, he relented, “Oh, okay. Woohyun, Maeri, smile!” At as his urging Maeri lifted her head slightly, but covered her face with her ponytail. Woohyun, on the other hand, was smiling brightly with his arm over his friend.

After the camera flashed, the detention proctor finally arrived, turning the corner and was surprised at the small gathering in front of the room. “Everyone scram,” she ordered. “Unless you want to join us. We have more than enough seats.” She tapped her foot impatiently, waiting for the three boys to disperse.

“Is that actually an option?” Hyunsuk asked with widened eyes. “Because I would like to see this.”

“Hyunsuk-goon, get out!” the proctor exclaimed, gently shoving the said boy and the others away from the door.

While the proctor was struggling with the students actually wanting to go into detention willingly, Woohyun whispered to Maeri and patted her hunched back, “Maeri, are you really that upset? I thought you decided to give up on Myungsoo.”

“I did,” Maeri admitted, her voice muffled by her arms. “But I still like him. And I care what he thinks about me.” She groaned. Her feelings for the handsome boy were still lodged deep into her heart. She had listened to her rational thoughts and Woohyun’s advice and had given up on Myungsoo. But apparently her heart didn’t get the message.

“Well, I still think you’re a good girl,” Woohyun tried to offer some comfort, but he had hit a nerve instead. Apparently twisting Myungsoo’s words was not a good idea.

Maeri turned and faced him with a fierce expression like a lioness on the hunt. “Woohyun, I hate you so much right now,” she growled, and afterwards she shifted away from him, turning her head away.

Woohyun pouted and tugged gently on her ponytail. “You don’t really mean that, do you?” he asked with a nervous chuckle.

“Yes,” she curtly responded.

Now it was Woohyun’s turn to slump over his own desk like a limp noodle. “Okay,” he gave in. He couldn’t hide the sadness in his voice.

And Maeri picked up on it. She sighed. She turned to face him again, seeing his protruding lower lip and sad eyes. She nudged his bicep with her finger. Woohyun faced, his eyes downcast. “I’ll love you again tomorrow,” she offered. “But let me hate you just for now.”

A smile overtook Woohyun’s face, his eyes practically hiding behind his round cheeks. “Okay,” he replied this time a little more joyfully.

But suddenly there was a sharp rap on the desk from a meterstick being struck across their shared desk. The both of them shot up straight in their seats as if a spring. “If you don’t want another detention, I suggest the both of you stop talking,” the proctor growled.

“Yes m’am!”

 


	17. "I hate you so much right now." (age 30)

“Let me describe the nature of man and what has happened to it; for the original human nature is now, but it was different. There weren't two genders, but three; there was man, woman, and the union of the two. The original man was round, his back and sides forming a circle; and he had four hands and four feet, one head with two faces, looking opposite ways, set on a round neck and precisely alike; also four ears, two private parts, and basically double of everything. He could walk upright as men now do, backwards or forwards as he pleased, and he could also roll over and over quickly, turning on his four hands and four feet, eight in all, like a gymnast. Now there were three genders because the sun, moon, and earth are three; and the man was originally the child of the sun, the woman of the earth, and the man-woman of the moon, which is made up of sun and earth, and they were all round and moved round and round, like their parents. Terrible was their power and strength, and  their hearts were great, and they attacked the gods. An argument arose among the gods: should they kill them and annihilate the race with thunderbolts? But then there would be an end of the sacrifices and worship which men offered to them; but, on the other hand, the gods could not suffer their unrestrained insolence.

At last, after a good deal of reflection, Zeus said: ‘I have a plan which will improve their manners; men shall continue to exist, but I will cut them in two and then they will be weakened, and the population will increase. They shall walk upright on two legs, and if they continue to be insolent, I will split them again and they shall hop about on a single leg.’ He spoke and cut men in two. After the division the two parts of man, each desiring his other half, came together, and throwing their arms about one another, entwined in mutual embraces, longing to grow into one, they were on the point of dying from hunger and self-neglect, because they did not like to do anything apart; and when one of the halves died and the other survived, the survivor sought another mate, man or woman as we call them, and clung to that. By the mutual embraces of man and woman, humans may breed, and the race might continue; or if man came to man they might be satisfied, and rest, and go their ways to the business of life: so ancient is the desire of one another which is implanted in us, reuniting our original nature, making one of two, and healing the state of man.

Each of us when separated, having one side only, like a flat fish, is but the indenture of a man, and he is always looking for his other half. And when one of them meets with his other half, the actual half of himself, whether he be a lover of youth or a lover of another sort, the pair are lost in an amazement of love and friendship and intimacy, and would not be out of the other's sight, as I may say, even for a moment: these are the people who pass their whole lives together; yet they could not explain what they desire of one another. For the intense yearning which each of them has towards the other does not appear to be the desire of lover's intercourse, but of something else which the soul of either evidently desires and cannot tell, and of which she has only a dark and doubtful presentiment. Suppose Hephaestus, with his instruments, to come to the pair who are lying side, by side and to say to them, ‘Do you desire to be one; always day and night to be in one another's company? for if this is what you desire, I am ready to melt you into one, so that being two you shall become one, and while you live life as if you were a single person, and after your death in the world below still be one departed soul instead of two. Do you want this?’ There is not a man who would reject this offer. Why? Because human nature was originally one and we were a whole, and the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love.”

After reciting this passage to his class, Sunggyu closed the book he was reading from and leaned onto his desk with his arms crossed. “That was a passage from Plato’s _Symposium_ , which is his discourse about love. Here we see love through the eyes of Aristophanes, a comedian at the time. So what did you guys think?” The class fell silent. “Did you pay attention? Do you want me to read it again?” Sunggyu began to open the book again, but then class loudly objected. A boy in the back of the class suddenly thrust his hand into the air. “Yes, Doonjoon?”

A perverted smile swept across the young teenager’s face. “So in the beginning, did we have both parts, like both a pe-”

“Not all,” Sunggyu broke him off before his language got any more vulgar. “Remember that there are three types of humans in the beginning: female, male, and a mix of the two. And remember that this is a myth told by a sarcastic comedian, so we could assume that he’s trying to be funny.”

But Doonjoon continued. “But could the people with the male and female parts f-”

“Doonjoon-ah, don’t even finish that thought,” Sunggyu warned through gritted teeth. The classroom laughed at the immature joke, and Doonjoon shrugged casually and leaned back into his seat. “Anybody else have anything else to add that isn’t perverted like our friend here?” Sunggyu teased as he gestured to Doonjoon, who took it as a complement. A mousy girl in the front with red-framed glasses slowly raised her hand in the air, just barely enough so that Sunggyu could see it. “Yes, Hyeyoung-ah?”

“So…” she began hesitantly, picking at the ends of her hair. “Is it kind of like soul mates?”

A small smile broke across his once stern face. “Yea, I guess it is.”

* * *

Woohyun turned away from the altar towards the aisle, lined by rows of simple white chairs, and Maeri was walking up towards him with a nervous, quick pace. Her eyes were focused on her feet, her high heeled shoes sinking into the grass causing her to walk like she was limping. Woohyun chuckled. He told her not to wear them, but she insisted; they were the shoes her mother wore for her own wedding. Once she reached Woohyun at the end, she finally looked up and gave him a shy smile. He took her hands in his and returned the smile. His eyes then gazed down to her feet, the shoes once again sinking into the ground, making her shrink a couple of centimeters. Woohyun sighed. _If she really wants to wear those shoes, we’ll have to put some kind of hard surface for her to walk on for the ceremony._ After that thought, Woohyun turned to the middle-aged woman next to them. “It’s perfect. We’ll book it.”

Maeri squeezed his hands as he whispered, “Woohyun…”

Woohyun was all too familiar with that tone of voice. Maeri was so practical. It was only a matter of time before she found something, anything in his perfect place to disagree with. He held up a finger to the wedding planner to give them a second. With a groan, he asked, “What is it now?”

“It’s beautiful, but…” she began, her eyes scanning the flower garden surrounding them and the large tree they were standing under. She had to admit. It was romantic, and Woohyun always had a knack for finding places like these. But there was still doubts nagging in the back of her mind.

Woohyun rolled his eyes. “But what?”

“It’s outdoors. What if it rains?” she challenged.

“It won’t,” Woohyun immediately answered with a confident smile. But it soon fell from his face after Maeri threw a  doubtful look in his direction. He shrugged his shoulders. “If it rains, we’ll put up a tent,” he suggested.

“Then we might as well get married inside,” Maeri retorted with a slight laugh. Because now she wasn’t only worried about bad weather, she was watching bees flit from one flower to another with a cautious gaze. She hated bees.

“Maeri,” Woohyun whined, calling Maeri’s attention away from the buzzing bumbling bees. Her fiance was shaking his body in frustration. “Honey, pretty please,” he begged. _And he told me I was too old for aegyo_.  He then leaned in and wiggled his eyebrows. “I’ll let you have chocolate cake.”

Maeri wrinkled her forehead in thought, and then gave in, “Alright.” Woohyun smiled in triumph and gave her hands a squeeze in gratitude. “The things I do for cake...and for you,” she joked.

“Me or chocolate cake? Who do you love more?” Woohyun asked, looking up at her with what he thought was an adorable expression. There was no contest. He was her future husband.

Maeri didn’t even take a second to answer, “Cake. It doesn’t talk back or try to manipulate me.” She started laughing at Woohyun’s crestfallen face, obviously painted with exaggerated hurt. He hung his head and sulked away, dragging his feet in the grass. Maeri rolled her eyes as she jogged after him. “Sweetie, I was just joking.”

* * *

“Unnie, do I look weird?” Maeri asked, peeking her head behind curtain. She slowly walked out of the dressing room from behind the curtain  to reveal herself wearing a white ballgown.

Hani shook her head, getting up from the chair she was sitting on and walking up to her friend. “No, you look beautiful,” she insisted. Maeri turned towards the mirror and tilted her head as she studied herself in a wedding dress. It was weird, and seeing herself in a white gown (even though she was wearing loafers underneath and her hair was in a messy bun) made everything thing seem more real. She was about to marry Woohyun, but maybe not in this dress. Hani sensed her insecurity and placed her hands on the younger’s waist. “It makes you look so tiny,” she complimented.

 _Yea, tiny because the dress is eating me alive_ , Maeri thought. She was swimming in white fabric, with so many fluffy layers that she felt like a cupcake. “You don’t think it’s too frilly?” she turned to Hani.

Hani giggled, playing with the many layers. “Maybe just a bit,” she answered honestly, biting her lip. Then she ran around to Maeri’s back. She picked at a bunch of ribbons that Maeri didn’t even know was back there (she could barely even see Hani behind the dress). “And what’s up with this bow? It’s like you’re pooping ribbons,” she joked.

Maeri turned around in circles to try to see it, but couldn’t. “Huh? I didn’t even see that. Ew. And this is why I needed your help. Thanks for coming,” she said in exasperation.

Hani raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t your mom and Woohyun’s mom want to be here for this?”

Maeri hung her head, feeling guilty. “Yes, and they’ll probably die once they hear about this.” She lifted her head and defended herself, “But they would drive me crazy if they were here. Dressing me up in the biggest dresses they find. Crying everytime I came out. But this is a lot more calm, and I can actually make a decision.” Then she frowned looking at the dresses covered in protective plastic  lining the walls of the dressing room. She had randomly pulled them because the store manager had left her alone among the racks after saying that she would personally help her and disappeared. And looking at the dresses again, she was starting to think that maybe picking the first five to catch her eye was a bad thing. They seemed to have caught her eye for all the wrong reasons.

“What’s wrong?” Hani asked, giving her friend a back hug and cheery smile.

Maeri put her hands over Hani’s and whined, “There’s just so many choices, Unnie.”

Hani hummed in thought, her eyes scanning the dresses. She let go of Maeri and walked over to the dresses. She dramatically turned back to the younger. “How about we narrow it down?” she suggested. “What kind of style do you like?”

“I guess a long dress,” Maeri thoughtfully spoke. “I can’t wear a short dress to my wedding, right?”

Hani snorted. “No, silly. What style? A-line, fit and flare, mermaid, trumpet, ballgown, empire waist, embellished, lace, chiffon, tulle…And your eyes are glazing over.”

Maeri looked at the other with wide eyes. “How many types of dresses are there?”

“Well, in this store, I think they have over 100,” Hani stated.

Maeri sighed, sulked over to the chair in the corner, and slumped in it. “Maybe I should have brought mom, or ahjumma. Even Soyeon would be some help,” she whimpered with her head in her hands.

Hani walked over and knelt down next to the other. “Maeri, would you mind if I pick out one?” she suggested. “I have a feeling that I might be better at this than you,” she ended with a slight giggle.

“Well, you can’t be any worse. Go ahead,” Maeri gave in. Hani patted her back before she left the dressing room on her self-appointed mission. When she had told Woohyun that she was going to go wedding dress shopping, he had buckled over in laughter. He said it would take years for her indecisive mind to find a dress when she could hardly choose what flavor of ice cream she wanted. But she eventually does always decide on a flavor, so she will find a dress. She just hoped that she would find one before the ceremony or else she’d be walking down the aisle in a bathrobe.

 _This...is could actually be THE dress_. Maeri twirled around in the dressing room, watching the dress slightly flow from her body in waves. It was a flowy chiffon dress with little embellishment save for a brooch at the waist. And it was longer in the back, forming a little train. Maeri wouldn’t call it plain;  it was delightfully simple. “Oh, Unnie, I think I like this,” she cooed with a laugh, still twirling her dress around. “It’s comfy, I can breathe, and I look like a lady.”

Hani walked up to her side and snorted at Maeri’s innocent comment.“Pbft! That’s good. Even deserves to look like a lady on their big day.” She then walked in front of Maeri and tucked her messy fly-aways behind her ears, smiling gently. “I’m glad that I came back here. I wouldn’t want to miss this,” she confessed softly.

Maeri grabbed one of Hani’s hands in her own.“I’m glad you’re back too, Unnie,” she said back with a squeeze of a hand. Then her eyes grew big having remembered something. “Oh, that reminds me. I can’t believe I almost forgot to ask you.”

“Ask me what?” Hani asked with a tilt of her head.

Maeri took both of Hani’s hands and put on her most pleading face.“Unnie, will you go on a blind date on Saturday with my friend Sunggyu?” She had forgotten that she was responsible to rope Hani into this double date. And from the looks of it, Hani was a bit surprised by the request. Maeri would have to build Sunggyu up, which wouldn’t be a problem. “He’s really smart and nice, although he could be a bit of a butthead sometimes.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what every girl dreams of dating, a nice butthead,” Hani teased.

“If it helps, he’s not terrible looking,” Maeri added.

Hani laughed again. “Maeri, you really need to work on playing up people you want me to date.” Maeri frowned. True, she could’ve done a better job, but she felt weird ‘playing up’ another man because, well, of Woohyun. Hani squeezed her hands. “But I’ll go for you, if it makes you happy.”

Maeri bounced up and down excitedly, shaking both of their arms side to side. “It would make me very happy! You can be our fourth wheel!”

“Hm? Come again?” Hani asked, bouncing around with her.

“Oh, it’s a double date on Saturday. You, me, Sunggyu, and Woohyun,” she explained, and Hani responded with a forced back giggle. “What’s so funny?”

“The way you worded it. It sounds like I’m going with you, and that Woohyun and Sunggyu-ssi are together,” she explained.

Maeri looked up at the ceiling and mused, “It really feels like that sometimes though.” _Those two boys got close very quickly._

“YOO MAERI! YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!”

“Oh shit! It’s my mom!” Maeri cursed now circling around the dressing room looking for an escape. There was none. Hani was staring at her, trying hard to hold back her laughter because of the seriousness of the situation, but her younger friend looked like a dog chasing its tail, or in this case her train.

Now there were angry footsteps seen underneath the curtain. Maeri was toast. “DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD BUY A WEDDING DRESS WITHOUT US?”

“And Mrs. Nam. Shit! We got to hide!” Maeri whispered as she pulled down Hani and hid behind her on the ground.

Hani looked back, completely confused. “How did they find out?” she whispered back.

All the sudden an image of the shop owner rushing into the back room, picking up her phone came into Maeri’s mind. She was ratted out. “I think the owner called them. Aish! This town is too friggin’ small!” she cursed.

The curtain to the dressing room ripped open, revealing two very angry mothers. Maeri crouched down even lower and dug her fingers into Hani’s shoulders, causing her to wince. Mrs. Yoon stepped into the room with an triumphant smirk on her face. She pointed right at Maeri (it’s hard to hide when you are wearing a white dress behind someone smaller than you). “Aha! There’s my little sneaky baby girl, going behind my back.” Then her eyes drifted to the blockade hiding her daughter. “Oh, and hello Hani. When did you come back in town?”

“A couple of months ago, ma’m,” Hani answered quietly as she bowed to the mothers.

“Well, I would say it’s nice to see you, but seeing that you helped my daughter to betray me,” Mrs. Yoo spoke with her arms crossed on her chest. “You can see why I’m not so happy.”

Hani bowed even lower. “I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Yoo ignored her apologies and stepped behind her, grabbing her daughter by the ear to pull her up. “And you, what are you wearing? That’s way too simple, don’t you agree?” she asked Mrs. Nam.

Mrs. Nam shook her head at the dress, following the Yoos as the mother dragged her daughter out of the dressing room by her ear.“Our girl deserves to look like a princess on her big day,” Mrs. Nam said dreamily.

“Oh and Woohyun could be her prince,” Mrs. Yoo cooed.

“But I don’t wanna…” Maeri fought back, tugging against her mother. But her mother just tightened her grip, causing Maeri to wince in pain.

“Hush! Just let your mommy and auntie take care of this,” she hissed.

Mrs. Nam clapped her hands together then gestured excitedly to her friend. “I think I saw a dress in the front that will make her look like a little doll. It had pick-ups and a jeweled belt and…”

While Mrs. Nam was gushing about a dress Maeri thought only existed for porcelian dolls, Maeri turned her head (or as much as she could) to Hani, who had just stepped outside of the dressing room, confused as to what to do next. Maeri mouthed to her,“Unnie, help me.”

Hani smiled apologetically and mouthed back, “Sorry.” And she watched as the two mothers overtook the appointment.

* * *

“So that’s why you shouldn’t tell a girl that she has toilet paper attached to her shoe,” Dongwoo preached. He set down the weight that he was holding with a grunt.

Hoya shook his head as he was still finishing up his set. “I can’t believe she ran out like that.”

“Yea, it wasn’t the best date I ever had,” Dongwoo confessed with a sad chuckle and sat down next to Woohyun, who handed him a bottle of water. The three of them were at the gym together. Apparently since Woohyun had been switching out his work-out sessions with Hoya for wedding planning with Maeri (there was no way that he could trust her doing it on her own), Dongwoo had become Hoya’s new exercise buddy. And Woohyun could see how deep their newly formed bond was running. He felt slightly guilty for abandoning them for a girl and also slightly jealous that they replaced him with each other so easily.

“Wait. I’m sorry. Who are we talking about again?” Woohyun asked as his eyes darted in between the two.

“Boram-noona,” Dongwoo gurgled, his mouth still full with water.

Woohyun asked again. “Bo-who?”

A large clunk rang through the gym as Hoya put down his weights. He faced his friends and rolled his eyes. “And this is what happens when you are too wrapped up in your own love life to notice ours. Bo-ram,” Hoya pronounced slowly and carefully for Woohyun. He then sat down next to Dongwoo, who handed the bottle of water over to him. “Dongwoo has been dating Boram-ssi for a month now,” he explained before greedily finishing the bottle.

Dongwoo bounced up, ready to continue onto the next exercise. “Was dating,” he clarified as he picked up a new set of dumbbells. “We decided that we made better friends than boyfriend/girlfriend.”

Woohyun got up to join him, but before he picked up his own dumbbells, he patted Dongwoo on the back. “Sorry, buddy.”

“It’s okay,” Dongwoo grunted, lifting his weights. “It was mutual. Besides, wasn’t really my type.”

Woohyun cocked an eyebrow and retorted, “How so? I thought your type was women in general.”

“Yea,” Dongwoo responded, putting down the weights after finishing his set. “But preferably women who have a job and direction in life. Boram-noona’s ultimate plan in life was to marry rich, and so things kind of went downhill when she found out that I was an oriental doctor and not the medical kind,” he ended with a resigned sigh.

“At least Boram was single,” Hoya countered, wiping his mouth. “Sora’s husband keeps calling her every time we’re out. It’s like he can tell whenever we’re together.” He threw the water bottle onto the ground out of frustration.

“They’re not divorced yet?” Woohyun asked.

Hoya got up and picked up the heaviest weights within reach. “He refuses to sign the papers. It’s kind of annoying,” he mumbled.

“I’m surprised that he hasn’t shown up to one of your dates yet,” Dongwoo laughed.

Hoya turned to the other with a worried face, “I bet he will soon. The jerk.” He sighed. “I really like Sora-ssi too.”

“Why?” Woohyun asked. “Isn’t she like a self-professed maneater?”

Hoya looked at his muscles flex in the mirror as he continued to lift. “I like a challenge.”

Woohyun let out a slight chuckle, “With her husband, I think you have more than enough of a challenge.”

“And this is why I’m glad that I’m happily married.” Sungyeol suddenly popped up next to Woohyun, wearing a stereotypical gym outfit, with sweatbands around his wrists and head. He looked a bit out of place, standing with the other three who were obviously regulars at the gym. But based on the weight of the dumbbells that he just picked up, it wasn’t his first time (even though his arms was still slender). And while Woohyun was gawking at his coworker’s sudden appearance, Sungyeol’s mouth was still running, “Although Soyeon has been having these weird cravings lately, waking me up in the middle of the night to buy her pickles and pudding. Then she eats them...together. It’s gross. Trust me, I tried it.” He shivered at the thought.

“Sungyeol-ah!” Dongwoo bounded up to Sungyeol and hugged him. “Good to see you again!”

Sungyeol peeled the other off of him, grimacing a bit because Dongwoo was glistening in sweat. But he was still smiling. “You know I wouldn’t miss gym time, and Soyeon doesn’t let me either. She said she always wanted a man with a six pack. And I have a two pack already,” he said proudly, patting his slim stomach. Woohyun could have sworn that his coworker used to have a paunch there. “ I’m getting there. And check out these guns!” He flexed his biceps, and they slightly bulged.

“Oh! Nice!” Dongwoo praised as he squeezed them.

“Hey, I have another question,” Woohyun interrupted them fawning over Sungyeol growing body. All of the others turned towards him. “When did you all become friends?”

“Seriously Woohyun, where have you been?” Hoya scoffed, putting the weights back.

“Hey guys, can we stop working out now? I’m bored,” Sungjong begged as he pedaled on the exercise bike behind them. He was slumping onto the bike’s frame bored out of his mind.

Woohyun looked behind him at the youngest incredulously.“When did you get here?”

* * *

“Really? All of them were there?” Maeri asked sitting on the bed as she watched Woohyun fuss around in the bathroom.

Woohyun poked his head through the doorway as he was putting on his tie. “I miss two weeks working out with Hoya, and when I come back, it’s like I haven’t been there for years. Did you know that Dongwoo was dating Boram-ssi?” he asked and returned into the bathroom to see his reflection and straighten his tie.

“Who’s Boram-ssi?” Maeri titled her head.

“My point exactly!” he exclaimed. Then he peeked out the door at this fiancee. She was putting on her shoes. She looked up sensing Woohyun’s gaze. He wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh, and things seem serious with Hoya and Sora-ssi.”

Maeri laughed a little. “That one I knew,” she admitted. Woohyun pouted, thinking that he had shared a bit of juicy gossip. He retreated back into the bathroom to fix his hair. “Sora goes into great detail about their dates. He’s actually kind of a romantic. It’s sweet,” Maeri continued with a dreamy lilt in her voice. Woohyun laughed imaging his self-proclaimed macho friend acting like a sweet boyfriend, giving her flowers and showering her with cheesy compliments. The image came a little too easily to him.

“You’re going to have to fill me in later, but right now,” he spoke slowly putting the last piece of hair in place. He swiftly walked out of the bathroom door and tapped Maeri on the shoulder. “We’re late. Come on let’s go.” It was going to be embarrassing if they were late for the double date that they set up. He could imagine Sunggyu sitting there quietly with Hani, sweaty hands on his knees that were nervously shaking. Like with the picture of Hoya as a sweet boyfriend, it came a little too easily.

Maeri popped up from the bed, grabbing her purse. “I’ve been ready for a while. You were the one still preening,” she teased, sticking her tongue slightly at him.

Woohyun leaned in and said in a hushed tone, “And who’s the better looking one out of the two of us?”

“You’re lucky that I already agreed to marry you, Sweetie,” Maeri said in her fake sweet tone. She reached up and ruffled the hair that Woohyun had just perfected. She laughed at his shocked face underneath the newly messed up hair.

“YAH!” he yelled and brought Maeri into a headlock, messing up her hair underneath his knuckles. He chuckled once he saw Maeri’s bird nest of hair on her head after wiggling out of Woohyun’s arms. She frowned and lunged at Woohyun, her hands entangling in his hair.

* * *

“Do I even want to know what you two were doing?” Sunggyu asked with a shake of his head. He was sitting across from the couple, who (tried as they might to tame the mess) had hair a little too ruffled and tangled to be normal.

“Someone can’t keep their hands off of me,” Woohyun teased, nudging Maeri. And to that, Maeri brought her hand to his head and messed up his hair again. Woohyun immediately slapped her hand away. “Yah! We’re in public,” he hissed, wagging his finger at her. Maeri put her hands in her lap and embarrassingly looked down at them. Then he heard a strangled laugh from the other side of the table and saw Sunggyu trying hard to muffle his laughter behind his fist. “What?” Woohyun asked curiously.

Sunggyu waved his free hand. “Nothing,” he said in a strained voice. Then after he finally regained his composure and asked, “So where is this beautiful girl I’m supposed to meet?”

Maeri raised her head from her lap and answered, “She should be here soon.” She stretched her neck to look at the entrance of the restaurant (which was thankfully not too far away). Within a few seconds of watching the door, Maeri saw Hani enter with her hair in perfect curls and in an elegant red dress. Maeri automatically stood up after catching sight of her. She waved her over to the table. “Oh! Unnie, over here.” Hearing her dongsaeng’s voice, Hani faced her, happily waved back, and walked up to the table. Once she arrived, Maeri stood next to the woman, holding her arm. “Unnie, this is our friend, Kim Sunggyu,” she introduced her. Sunggyu automatically stood up and bowed to Hani, extending his hand to grasp hers. “Gyu, this is Oh Hani,” Maeri finished. Hani bowed in response as Sunggyu helped her into her chair.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Hani said as she sat down.

“You too,” Sunggyu responded with a nervous smile. Woohyun noticed his friend’s jitters and chuckled.

“Gyu, don’t look so nervous,” Woohyun joked. “Noona isn’t going to eat you. She’s nice.”

Sunggyu glared across the table at his friend. “I’m not nervous,” he muttered. And to prove that he wasn’t, he turned towards his date and attempted to make conversation (a somewhat stumbling attempt but it worked), “Uh, so Hani-ssi, what do you do for a living?”

“She’s a librarian,” Woohyun answered for her, and Hani nodded in agreement.

Sunggyu shot a glance at his friend. Then he faced Hani again. “Oh, is that so?”

“Yes,” this time Maeri answered. The couple turned towards her. “And Gyu is a high school philosophy and ethics teacher,” she added.

“Oh, what school?” Hani asked Sunggyu.

“The one right across from the library actually,” Woohyun cut his friend off from answering.

Maeri lightly hit Woohyun’s upper arm excitedly. “Oh, it’s like fate,” she cooed. Woohyun nodded enthusiastically. Maeri pointed at the couple sitting across from them. “You guys can go out to lunch together.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Hani interjected, playing with the napkin in her lap.

Sunggyu pointed at the two overly eager people sitting across from them.“So how do you know these two?” he asked in a low voice, hoping that the other two wouldn’t hear.

But they did. Woohyun jumped in again,“She went to high school with us, right Noona?” Hani nodded with an amused smile. “Just a year above.”

“What about you?” Hani asked Sunggyu.

“You know that’s actually a funny story,” Maeri interjected with a slight giggle. “I was appraising Gyu’s house and…”

“Will you just let us answer the questions?” Sunggyu remarked in a curt voice, narrowing his eyes on the two noisemakers across from him.

Maeri pouted. She had only tried to help facilitate the conversation between the two strangers, help them get to know each other and to have these four wheels travel smoothly on the ground. She looked quickly at her fiance next to her, and he was wearing a similar expression. “Fine,” they both relented with a sigh.

Maeri put up her hand and mouthed to Hani, “Butthead.” Hani let out a slight giggle. Maeri smile in response, but she then felt a sharp pain on her shin, replacing her small smile with a grimace. She knew exactly where it came from, the man sitting right across from her. Kim Sunggyu had kicked her. She bent down slightly to rub her sore shin, glowering at him.

“I saw that,” Sunggyu said through gritted teeth. Maeri shot a look to Woohyun, seeing if he would retaliate to protect her honor. He didn’t. He just laughed and shrugged at his fiancee, thinking that she had deserved it. “Anyway, Hani-ssi,” Sunggyu continued. “It’s like Maeri said. I met her while she appraised my house. And I met Woohyun through my roommate Dongwoo.”  Maeri rolled her eyes. He retold the story in the most bland way possible. What about the fact that Sunggyu had came to their party not knowing that Maeri was the hostess? That was the cute part, but he had glossed over it like it had never happened. Instead he just returned to asking Hani questions as if it were an interview, “So you’re from town? Do you still live with your parents, or-OW!” This time both Maeri and Woohyun had kicked him in the shins and silently (and obviously) signaled to Sunggyu not to pursue the subject, shaking their heads with wide eyes. “What?”

“Guys, it’s alright,” Hani told them with a small smile, but Maeri knew that it was forced. Hani turned to Sunggyu, “It’s just me and my dad. What about y-”

“I have an idea!” Woohyun practically shouted to cover Hani’s question. The last thing they needed to revisit during this date (which may or may not be spiraling down the drain) was to bring up any of the other couple’s family history. “Let’s just not talk about families. Who wants to talk about them anyway? They’re crazy,” he joked, spinning his finger around his temple.

Maeri leaned onto Woohyun and spoke to him in a hushed voice, “Speaking of crazy, I forgot to tell you. Our moms ambushed Hani and me at the wedding dress shop.” She picked up the wine glass and took a long sip. “It’s like they have spies everywhere.”

“You know what, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Woohyun responded with a chuckle. His eyes then darted surreptitiously around the dining room. “They probably have some here,” he whispered dramatically.

Maeri cringed, taking his joke seriously (she was always so gullible). “You really think so?” she asked, her eyes scanning every waiter and busboy who slightly looked in their direction. Woohyun nodded seriously, perpetuating his ruse. She looked even more nervous, and her hand unconsciously grabbed at his knee. Woohyun chuckled. This was almost too easy.

His eyes then drifted towards the couple across from them. To be honest, he was a bit skeptical about the match. He had known Hani since high school, so he could guess that she would be nice and cordial to her date, but perhaps a bit too cordial so that he couldn’t gauge whether she was genuinely enjoying it or not. Sunggyu, on the other hand, he hadn’t known for as long and couldn’t guess how he would be on a date. But Woohyun would never expect his friend to be so nervous (he didn’t blame him. Hani was beautiful). The moment he saw Sunggyu practically bouncing in his seat in nervous anticipation, waiting for his date, Woohyun thought this date was going to be a failure. Hence the reason why he interjected (perhaps a bit too much) into their conversation, acting as a wingman to his friend. But now he could see that his friend could fly solo, as he was holding a conversation with his date on his own. Woohyun smiled, feeling all the sudden a sense of pride. Perhaps this match would work. He nudged Maeri who was still glowering at the wait staff. “Hey look,” he whispered to her. “They’re talking to each other, and without our help.”

“Aw! They look so cute together,” Maeri cooed.

“Yea,” Woohyun agreed. “But not cuter than us.”

“Psh! Of course, cutest couple ever.” Maeri and Woohyun fist bumped under the table.

* * *

“This was nice,” Woohyun declared while stretching. The four of them had just finished with their meal. The food was good, and the conversation was pleasant. It beat the time they went out with Sungyeol and Soyeon because they weren’t questioned like it was the inquisition. After stretching, he put his arms over Maeri’s shoulders as they walked out into the parking lot. He stared at the other couple who were standing apart from each other by a respectable distance. _Looks like they still need some encouragement_. “We should do it again sometime,” Woohyun insisted. “Hey, what are you guys doing next weekend?”

“I have no plans. Do you, Hani-ssi?” Sunggyu answered and looked towards his date.

Hani smiled happily and shrugged, “No, I don’t.” Then she turned and pointed excitedly towards Woohyun. “Oh, you know what we should do?”

“Are you thinking about what we talked about yesterday?” Woohyun asked. Hani nodded. Woohyun let go of Maeri to clap in agreement. “Call!”

“Call?” Maeri was confused and scratched her head. “What did you just agree to, Sweetie?”

“Hiking up the mountain,” Woohyun said plainly as if it were obvious, which it was to him. The other day when he went to the library, he had caught Hani reading a book about their town. He had jokingly asked if there really was anything worth seeing in their tiny town. She surprisingly answered yes and showed him pictures from the summit of the local mountain. They were beautiful, as if you were looking at the town from a cloud. He was enamoured and determined to see it for himself. And Hani did too, saying that she used to go up there with her family when she was little and hadn’t gone since. So Woohyun wasn’t surprised when she had suggested it, but someone else was.

“HUH?!” Maeri exclaimed.

Right. Maeri had become increasingly lazy in her old age and not to mention that this hike also incorporated one of her largest fears. But Woohyun wasn’t willing to give up his new dream so easily. “Come on, it’ll be a lot more fun and exciting than eating at a restaurant again. Besides, Honey, didn’t you say you wanted to work out more?” he joked, poking at her side, reminding her of her self-imposed bridal diet.

Maeri groaned, looking at her feet, “I say a lot of things.”

Hani grabbed her hand and begged, “Please, Maeri. It’ll be fun.” She then turned to her date with a brilliant smile. “Sunggyu-ssi, you want to go too, right?”

Sunggyu looked surprised to be included in this discussion and pointed to himself. But he quickly put down his finger. “Uh, okay,” he stammered.

“Perfect! It’s a date!” Woohyun exclaimed happily. He then faced Hani. “Hey, you know what else we should do?”

Hani stepped in closer to him and shook her head. “No. What?”

And while those two were busy planning making Maeri’s life difficult (or at least that’s how it seemed to her. She had no interest in mountains, or bridges, or anything high off from the ground), Maeri walked up next to Sunggyu and nudged him the the shoulder. “That didn’t sound too enthusiastic,” she spoke to him in a low voice.

“Yea,” Sunggyu admitted with a sheepish smile. “I kind of prefer my boring dinner dates.”

“I hear you,” Maeri agreed. Her eyes flittered over to the other two who were busy planning their hike already and perhaps a couple other potentially exhausting excursions. Maeri shook her head. Woohyun really liked to plan things, elaborate things. And Hani did too. She had been on several committees in high school which planned several events like the end-of-the-year festival. Maeri wouldn’t be surprised if in a few weeks, the four of them would be on a boat to some random and desolate island. She could already hear Woohyun say how romantic it would be to camp out on the beach, under the stars, a beach all of their own (with the exception of the other couple of course). Maeri, on the other hand, didn’t mind the so-called boring dinner dates. There was comfort to her in mundane things. She shook those thoughts from her head. “But look how excited they are,” she pointed out to Sunggyu. “Maybe it will be fun.” She looked at the other who was frowning at her dubiously. Maeri giggled, “Well, at least they will have fun. So did you enjoy your date?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Yea, I did,” Sunggyu answered with a wide smile.

“Good.”

* * *

Woohyun opened up the car door and sighed at the sight in front of him. Maeri’s head had been resting on the car window, but after Woohyun had opened the door, Maeri was just hanging half-outside the car, completely asleep with a small line of drool dribbling from her chin. Sadly, it was a sight that Woohyun was all too familiar with. Woohyun poked her in the cheek, setting her head back straight. “Honey, you hafta wake up. We’re here,” he urged softly.

Maeri’s eyes blinked open, looking somewhat confused about where she was. But then she remembered, and Woohyun watched her recollect with an amused expression on his face. “Why did we have to wake up so early?” she whined while she stretched and unbuckled herself from her seat. “It’s Saturday.”

“Yea, but it’s a long walk to the top,” Woohyun explained. He looked up at the mountain standing in front of them. The sky was still a mix of orange and pink, which contrasted nicely with the earthy tones of the mountain. Didn’t this sight alone make it worth it to wake up so early? He looked back down at Maeri who was squatting next to the car, huddling for warmth in the chilly morning air. Apparently not for everybody.

“Why are we doing this again?” she asked, her sleepy eyes almost closed shut again.

Woohyun grabbed her hands and pulled her up. “It’s going to be fun trust me,” he promised, placing his arms around her shoulders. “Noona and I planned everything. She even woke up early today to make fresh kimbap for all of us.”

“She’s so...nice,” Maeri said with a large yawn. Her head slowly began to rest on his shoulder.

“And probably awake too,” he muttered. “Yah! Stop drooling on me!” he shouted, shaking her off his shoulder.

“I’m not!” she fought back as she wiped the drool with the back of her hand. _Liar._

The sound of crunching gravel caught Woohyun’s attention. He looked up and saw a car parking next to theirs. Woohyun smiled. He had convinced Sunggyu to borrow Dongwoo’s car to pick-up Hani and drive her here with him. He eventually agreed to it after much convincing. Now his friend was helping his wide awake and chipper date out of the car, while he, on the other hand, was dragging his feet and his eyes looked practically shut. Woohyun left Maeri and ran over to them. “Hey guys! Are you ready?” he greeted them

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Sunggyu answered as he slowly put on his backpack.

Hani ran up next to his side and carefully patted his shoulder, slightly surprising the other. “Come on, Sunggyu-ssi, it’ll be fun,” she encouraged. “Outside, breathing in the fresh air, feeling the sun on your skin.” She lifted her arms and took in a deep breath before continuing, “And I heard the view from the top is beautiful.”

“Yea, that’s why I always wanted to do it, but someone’s a little lazy,” Woohyun joked staring at Maeri who had just lazily shuffled over next to them.

“Huh? What are we talking about?” she asked, perking her head up.

“Nothing, Honey,” Woohyun responded patting her on her back. “So let’s go! Come on!” he yelled as he started off towards the hiking path.

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” Maeri mumbled as she followed behind him.

* * *

“You know, this isn’t that bad,” Maeri said slightly out of breath. They were about halfway up the mountain, and the climb was getting steeper and rockier, causing Maeri to grab onto Woohyun multiple times to help pull her up. And even though Maeri was slowing him down, they were still several steps in front of Sunggyu and Hani, who appeared to be taking their time up the mountain. Woohyun, on the other hand, wanted to get up it as quickly as possible and was a little impatient when Maeri paused to rest again. She stood up straight and breathed in the crisp air. “Unnie’s right. The air does smell good here.” Then she suddenly grimaced and started coughing. She spat several times onto the rocks beneath her. “I think I swallowed a bug,” she explained in a strained voice.

Woohyun chuckled looking at his fiancee trying to rid the taste of insect from her mouth. “Fresh air’s good, but there’s another reason why I said we should do this,” he confessed as he pointed to the couple behind them.

Maeri turned around to see where Woohyun was watching, and she saw Sunggyu helping Hani to step up onto a rock. “Aw! He’s holding her hand,” Maeri said excitedly in a hushed tone. But as soon as Hani had regained her footing, Sunggyu let go of her hand. “And now he let it go. Keep holding it, Gyu,” Maeri encouraged.

“Don’t worry. It’ll happen again,” Woohyun stated nonchalantly. Maeri looked at him skeptically. Was he psychic? “Activities like this always gives opportunities for skinship.”

“Oh, you’re sneaky,” she teased pushing him playfully.

“I’m smart. Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand and began pulling her up the mountain (probably the only way he’d get up the mountain quickly was if he dragged her behind him). He was especially impatient knowing what wonder lied ahead of them in just a few more steps. “Let me show you another reason why we’re doing this.”

* * *

“Whoa!” Maeri exclaimed after laying eyes on the sight in front of her. It was a fresh water stream, flowing down the mountain side. The clearing was so peaceful, and the babbling of the water was soothing. _And we can finally rest_ , Maeri thought in relief. “I didn’t know this was here. Woohyun, Unnie, how did you know about this?” she asked the two as they were on either side of her.

“I read about it in a book,” Hani explained, bending over to untie her shoes. Maeri and the others followed suit. The cold water would feel good against their worn feet. “Surprisingly, there’s actually a tourist book for this little town. Who knew we had hotspots?” She stood up and placed her shoes aside. “Come on, let’s go in,” she urged as she walked straight into the stream and began exploring it. Woohyun immediately went in after her.

Maeri, however, went downstream, a few feet away from the other two explorers. She knew that Woohyun would splash her if she was anywhere within reach of him. She was not willing to risk being soaked in cold stream water, especially since the sun hadn’t even reached the middle of the sky yet. After sitting down, Maeri slowly placed her feet into the water. _Aish! It’s cold_ , she mentally cursed.

“Ah! Cold. Cold. Cold,” Maeri heard her thoughts being voiced by the person next to her. It was Sunggyu, who was probably staying away from the other two for the same reason Maeri was. He was shutting his eyes tightly as he carefully plunged his feet into the water.

“It’s not cold, you big baby,” Maeri teased with a voice quivering from the cold.

Sunggyu scoffed and pointed at her arms full of goose-bumps and trembling. “Then why are you shivering,” he retorted.

Maeri frowned and quickly pulled down her sleeves. “I’m shaking with excitement,” she defended herself. “Yay water!” But her voice did not sound excited at all although she was shaking her fists into the air.

“Big fat liar,” Sunggyu mumbled.

“Yah!” Maeri yelled back, startling him. “If anything, I’m a skinny liar,” she ended with a giggle, knowing that her comeback was weak. Sunggyu laughed as well.

“Maeri-yah, come over and look at this!” Hani shouted to her dongsaeng and motioned her over next to her. Maeri waved goodbye to Sunggyu as she walked over to Hani, but Sunggyu wasn’t alone for long. Right after Maeri left, Woohyun snuck up on him, splashing water in his face (which earned him a vicious glare and a few splashes in his own direction).

Right as Maeri reached her friend, Hani showed her the palm of her hand, where a brown salamander was slithering against her skin. Maeri poked at it curiously. “Wah! It’s so cute. Look at those big eyes,” she cooed, staring directly into the amphibian’s large dark eyes.

“I know,” Hani agreed petting its spine with her forefinger. “I just want to take you home and keep you as a pet,” she said in a baby voice. Maeri sputtered into a short laugh. Keeping such slimy creatures as a pet did not seem to jive with Hani’s elegant appearance. Even with her hair pulled back into a high ponytail, Hani made it seem like a chic up-do. But at heart, Hani was still that tomboy Maeri had befriended years before. _And if she’s still the same_... the gears in Maeri’s head began to whir.

“You know who would like this?” Maeri whispered, wiggling her eyebrows mischievously and nodding in the direction of the two boys, who seemed to have called a truce in their splashing wars (which left the both of them quite damp).

* * *

 

“So Gyu,” Woohyun began as he fiddled with his hair. “Are you having fun?”

“Yea, this isn’t bad. And the fresh air smells good,” Sunggyu declared and leaned back, taking in a deep breath. His mouth was hanging wide open as he breathed.

Woohyun all the sudden had a sense of deja-vu.“You’re gonna swallow a bug with your mouth hanging open like that,” he warned his friend.

“Hm?” Sunggyu hummed. But as soon as he opened his mouth again, a bug flew in, and he began coughing and spitting. “Ew. What was that?” he asked with a strained voice. Woohyun just laughed in response, watching his friend frown and trying to rid the awful taste from his mouth.

Woohyun was about to say something snarky, but the words immediately flew from his head as he felt something move on his head, something lightweight but obviously alive. He turned to Sunggyu, panicked with wide eyes. “Huh? What’s on my head? Gyu, what is it?” But Sunggyu was just staring at his head with an amused smile, not offering any help or answer. Woohyun started to violently shake his head to rid his hair of the creature, which was holding on tightly to his locks. Eventually the creature fell to the ground, and Woohyun was finally able to see it, a brown salamander. He let out a girlish squeal as soon as he saw it and jumped up from his spot. He knew exactly who was to blame. “Yah! Yoo Maeri!”

“Wasn’t me,” Maeri’s voice chirped downstream from them. “I was over here the whole time.” Her expression was of false innocence. She might not have done it, but Woohyun knew full well that she was the originator of the plot. But he still needed to bring the perpetrator to justice.

He turned around behind him to see Hani with her hand over her mouth to stifle her escaping laughter. “Yah! Noona!” Woohyun yelled as he got up and chased Hani, who was trying to run away from him (but he eventually caught her and got her as equally drenched as he was. But Maeri didn’t get off scot-free either. Being the only dry one now, the other three turned on her and splashed her until she was two times wetter than they were).

* * *

By the time they reached the first look-out point, their clothes were partially dry, and the high sun was sending its warm rays on their skin. The view, thankfully, was clear enabling one to see for miles. You could really see how small the two truly was, and its surrounding towns as well. “Woah!” Sunggyu exclaimed. “This is beautiful.”

“Gyu, the view is even better out here,” Woohyun declared with a chuckle. He, with Hani, was standing closer to the edge of the look-out point, the edge of a steep cliff. Sunggyu, on the other hand, was several feet away, with a hand securely wrapped around a tree branch, anchoring him to the earth.

“Ah, no. I’m  fine,” Sunggyu insisted, waving his friend off.

Woohyun scoffed looking at his timid friend. “What are you afraid of heights or something?”

“Uh, yea,” Sunggyu sheepishly admitted, his grip tightened onto the branch.

“I don’t blame you,” a small voice came from besides Sunggyu. Next to him, Maeri was hugging the tree. And Sunggyu had been so wrapped up in his own fears that he hadn’t even noticed the woman’s presence.

“You afraid too?” he asked. Maeri nodded with her eyes fixed on some point in the distance.

Woohyun rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe his luck. He knew that it would take some convincing to get Maeri beyond this point and to the next look-out at the top of the mountain, but he had done it before. He had pushed Maeri to her limits to conquer her fear. They had ridden in cable cars, hot air balloons, and onto the roofs of sky scrapers (but surprisingly, her fear still subsisted). With a bit of effort and an excessive amount of pleading and aegyo, Maeri would yield. But he wasn’t yet an expert in trying to persuade Sunggyu into what he wanted. And now Woohyun feared that the two would become a united front, giving into their fear.  “Come on, you guys! We aren’t even at the top yet. The view is even better up there,” he exhorted them, pointing at the peak of the mountain.

Maeri’s eyes followed his finger. Her eyes widened at the sight. The peak was still a long ways up and quite steep as well. “Up there? You want us to go up there?!” she sputtered.

“Come on, Honey, stop hugging that tree,” Woohyun joked. He walked up to his fiancee and began to peel her from the tree and dragging her closer to the cliffs edge.  He could hear the sounds of her heels digging into the dirt to slow him down. But he just ignored her and pulled harder. “It’s not that far up.”

“Woohyun…” Maeri whimpered. She normally gave into Woohyun’s whims like going onto those stupid rooftops and that even worse hot air balloon, but today she felt especially stubborn, and her heart was pounding in her throat as she was dragged closer and closer to the cliff’s edge. The rational side of her told her that Woohyun would never put her in danger, but her irrational siding was screaming, drowning out the rational voice. She yanked harder against her fiance.

“Come on. Stop being a baby,” Woohyun had hoped to spur some bravery in her with his words (it worked more often than not).

“Hyun, stop it,” Maeri spoked darkly, tearing her hand out of his grasp. “I  hate you so much right now.” She then retreated to the comfort of her beloved tree, leaving her Namu behind (haha word-play).

Woohyun’s eyes then darted nervously to the other couple who had just witnessed his rejection, not knowing how to react to it. So Woohyun broke out into a fake chuckle to ease the tension. “She’s just kidding, right Honey?” Maeri nodded silently, wrapping her arms tightly around the tree. Woohyun sighed, maybe just this once he’d let Maeri be. She obviously wasn’t in the mood. He turned to Hani. “Noona, do you still want to go up?”

“Yea, but they don’t really want to. I’m more than happy seeing the view just from here,” Hani sweetly answered, looking at the two refusing to step any closer to the edge of the cliff, and they weren’t even close to the top.

“Nah!” Woohyun dismissed her worries. “The scaredy cats can stick together. Gyu, you’ll watch over her, right?” he asked. Sunggyu looked over at Maeri, whose cheek was squashed against the tree (she obviously became more rattled after Woohyun’s ‘urginings’). Sunggyu nodded. Woohyun then continued, “I don’t know about you, but I didn’t come all the way here for this view. You wanna come?”

Hani looked at the others nervously, mulling over the decision. “Okay,” she eventually agreed. She waved at the two glued to the tree. “We’ll be back soon, okay? See you later, Sunggyu-ssi! Bye Maeri!” Woohyun waved too as the both of them made their way up the path to the mountain’s peak.

When Woohyun and Maeri were just a speck on the rocky dirt path, Sunggyu finally broke the silence that had grown between Maeri and himself, “We’re not scaredy cats.”

“Nope,” she agreed with a silent voice but she was shaking her head strongly.

“We’re just smart,” Sunggyu proposed.

Maeri picked up on it and expanded, “Yup. It’s smart to be scared. Like self-preservation.”

“Yea. we stay safe here,” he said, patting the tree for emphasis. “And they go risk their lives to go see a better view. They probably will fall off a cliff.”

“With Woohyun leading, probably,” Maeri joked darkly, but quickly said a prayer in her head wishing that it wouldn’t happen.

Sunggyu let out a slight laugh. “I’m gonna miss them,” he jested.

“Me too,” Maeri added. Finally feeling comfortable again, although her heart had not yet stilled (probably because she was still so close to the cliff), Maeri let go of the tree and began to look for a more comfortable place for them to rest. Then she found it. Smooth pane of rock situated underneath an overhang, which would shield them from the increasingly harsh rays of the sun. It somehow looked cozy, in a prehistoric way. She nudged Sunggyu and gestured over to the spot. “Hey, let’s go over there.” Sunggyu nodded and allowed her to lead the way. Once they got there, the two immediately sat down with matching groans. Sunggyu opened up the bag and brought out two rolls of kimbap; one he gave to Maeri. “Thanks,” she said as she accepted it.

“Thank Hani-ssi,” Sunggyu said as he munched on his roll. “She made it. She’s really nice.”

“I know,” Maeri responded as she sunk her teeth into her own roll. She peeled back the aluminum foil as she ate more of the roll. “I have the best Unnie in the world, she mused and chewed. “She’s like a real sister.” She heard Sunggyu hum in acknowledgement (or was that some smacking noise, Maeri wasn’t really paying attention). Before she knew it, she had already finished the kimbap. She rolled the foil up into a ball. “So...do you like her?” Maeri carefully asked as she played with the foil ball in her hands. But after waiting for a few seconds, Maeri frowned and turned towards Sunggyu, ready to yell at him. The choice words, however, fell from her tongue. Sunggyu was fast asleep already with a half-eaten kimbap laying on his stomach.

Maeri blinked at him, wondering what to do now. He looked so peaceful (and that kimbap also looked good. She had considered for a few seconds about finishing it for him, but settled for wrapping it up and placing it back into his bag instead). Maeri laid down too against the cool rock. It was oddly comfortable, yet still hard. She turned her head, studying Sunggyu’s profile. It was so different from Woohyun’s. Woohyun’s nose was smaller and sharper. Sunggyu’s nose was a bit bigger but straight like a ruler. Maeri pondered for a second what it would be like to trace her finger along that bridge like she did with Woohyun’s several nights earlier. She immediately shook that thought from her head and opted for stroking her own nose instead, unconsciously. She then fell asleep a few seconds later with her finger still on her nose.

* * *

“Thanks for coming up with me,” Woohyun thanked as he pulled Hani up onto the rock with him. “It’s hard to talk Maeri into these sorts of things.” But that was a lie. He could normally talk her into anything. But for some odd reason, just today, for something so simple, she was being stubborn. Woohyun didn’t understand, but he should have known that it would happen eventually. _But why today? And why in front of them?_ They were supposed to be the example couple, the ideal couple, for the other to follow. But instead she rejected and said that she hated him. Woohyun knew she was joking and just said anything to make him stop (or at least he hoped), but it still hurt his heart.

“You know, you don’t have to do these things with a girl,” Hani began, interrupting his thoughts. “You can go by yourself. Or with a friend.”

“But the view is romantic. Don’t you think?” Woohyun argued, pointing to the view growing increasingly more ethereal. The view he had wanted to share with someone special. To gaze upon the place where he grew up and spent most of his life, exchanging reminiscent stories with the other.

“Yea,” Hani agreed with a hesitant voice. “Maybe next time Maeri will be brave enough to come up with you,” she suggested with a bright smile.

“I’m not betting on it,” Woohyun said glumly. He didn’t know when they would come back to this mountain if ever. They had lived here for most of their lives, and this was the first that they ever stepped foot on it. “I can’t believe she’s still afraid of heights after all the things we’ve done.” He had really tried to help her conquer it, but the fear was as stubborn as she was.

“I guess some things you just can’t get over,” Hani mused outloud. She quickly glanced at Woohyun and cleared her throat. “Uh, come on. I’ll race you to the top!” she exclaimed and started up the mountain. Woohyun started after her, but stopped dead in his tracks as he watched her slip and slide down against the abrasive rock.

“Woah! Noona! Are you okay?” Woohyun shouted after her, finally registering what had just happened. He ran next to her and cupped her elbows helping her back up to her feet.

Hani winced as she stood up. She scanned her legs and sighed, “It’s just a scratch. It’s okay.”

Woohyun followed her eyes down to her legs. It was ‘just a scratch’ but a rather large one, a bleeding one on an already dirty knee. _Why did she have to wear shorts?_ Woohyun pushed her gently into a sitting position. “Here, let me clean it up for you,” he commanded as he digged through his bag.

“O-okay,” she relented, allowing him to straighten her knee. He brought out some disinfectant and bandages.

“Now, this might sting a little. It’s a good thing we came prepared for this. Maeri can be such a clutz, and maybe you too,” he gently teased as he dabbed the stinging disinfectant onto her knee, cleaning up the mess. He was trying to distract her from the pain with his conversation, and it was working. She was smiling slightly at him and not frowning in pain. He smiled too. This was easy, easier than it would have been with Maeri. She would fight and insist that she could do it on her own. _Stupid independent woman tendencies. It’s okay to rely on someone_. But Hani allowed him to care for her, and they barely knew each other (well at least not as well as he knew his fiancee). Why couldn’t it be this easy all the time? “That’s a good girl,” he found himself saying as he pasted the bandage against her knee. He then realized how awkward that might have sounded and cleared his throat. “Uh, there all done.” He stood up and extended a hand to help her up. She took it.

“Thanks, Woohyun,” she genuinely spoke.

“No problem,” he responded happily. And now that her guard was dropped, it was the perfect time to renew their race. “Ready, set, go!” he yelled as he shoot up the trail.

“Cheater!” Hani yelled back with a giggle as she chased after him.

* * *

They reached the summit soon afterwards (Woohyun had won the race, but not by much. Hani proved to be quite the competitor), but they didn’t the view for long. Woohyun felt slightly guilty for abandoning the other two at the first look-out point. But after returning back to them, he realized that all of his worries were for not. The two were completely passed out underneath an overhang, close to each other probably because they were cold underneath the shade. “Aw! Look at the old people sleeping under a rock,” Woohyun whispered to Hani as they approached the two sleeping ‘beauties.’ Woohyun wasn’t the least bit surprised to find out that this was how they passed their time. Maeri had been wanting to sleep ever since she woke up that morning.

“I think we wore them out,” Hani said back crouching down next to them and watching them with an amused smile.

Woohyun. on the other hand, wasn’t going to be so gentle. He preferred to wake people up rather than to watch them sleep. He knelt by Sunggyu and yelled into his ear, “Gyu, are you sleeping with my wifey?”

Sunggyu blinked his eyes open, looked at Woohyun and then to the dozing woman next to him, then automatically snapped up into a sitting position. “Uh? What? No!” he defend himself frantically. “We were just napping.”

“Chill. I was joking,” Woohyun assured his friend as he crawled over to his wife. He whispered into her ear, “Maeri! Maeri-yah! Wake up!”

“Uh? What?” Maeri grumbled as she stirred. She then saw Woohyun hovering over her and slowly realized where she was and what she was doing. “I’m awake. I’m awake,” she mumbled with her eyes still closed, but she was sitting up.

Eventually, the two sleepyheads had woken up enough to gather themselves and their belongings. “So you guys ready to head down? Or do you need a bit to recover?” Woohyun asked.

“Nah. I’m ready,” Maeri answered. But her words weren’t so convincing as she then yawned so large that it cause her to stumble slightly.

“Sure,” Hani teased with a giggle. She then wrapped her arm around Maeri’s upper arm. “Here, Maeri, let’s go down together,” she suggested. Maeri nodded enthusiastically. And the two girls made their way down the trail, practically skipping.

Picking up the girls’ notion, Woohyun did the same and wrapped his arm around Sunggyu’s. “Come on, Gyu! Let’s go down together,” he mimicked Hani.

“Let go of me,” Sunggyu grumbled with a smile, weakly struggling against Woohyun’s grasp.

“Never!” Woohyun exclaimed, tightening his grip and pull his friend down the trail. But after a few minutes, Woohyun let go because it proved to be difficult to descend down the steep path in tandem. They instead walked closely (and slowly) together down the path. But also quietly (probably because Sunggyu was too preoccupied with not falling down the path). Woohyun wasn’t able to take the silence any longer and asked, “So you guys really just slept the whole time?”

“We ate too,” Sunggyu answered with furrowed brows as he carefully stepped over a large rock. “But, yea we mostly slept. Can you blame us? You made us wake up at the crack of dawn. You said it was a long hike up, but I’ve been watching the clock. We could’ve slept an hour or two later,” he ranted, suddenly forgetting that he was scared of falling and began to walk down faster.

Woohyun titled his head as he looked at the other. This reaction felt so familiar, in fact, Sunggyu as a whole felt familiar. But then it suddenly came to him.“Wah! It’s no wonder why I like you. You’re like a male version of Maeri,” Woohyun shouted his realization. Sunggyu loved to sleep, so did Maeri. The both of them had similar fears and interests, including Woohyun himself. It was no wonder the three of them got along so well.

“Really?” Sunggyu challenged. “Because you guys are basically twins. You’re so in sync. You can even tell what each other is thinking.”

“Pbft! Yea right,” Woohyun snorted. “I’m way cooler.” He could see Sunggyu rolled his eyes out of the corner of his own. Woohyun decided it was time to change the topic. Maeri was boring to talk about. But Sunggyu and his blossoming relationship was more interesting to him. “But you know the real reason why I chose this time.” Sunggyu looked at him curiously. “It’s because once we get down, it’ll be dinner time. And _you_ can take Noona out,” he explained.

“You are unbelievable,” Sunggyu said with a shake of his head.

“I’m brilliant,” Woohyun countered. His eyes flittered down to the girls in front of them, who unlike Sunggyu and Woohyun, had still tried to walk down the mountain in tandem. They were both struggling to find their footing. He gave Sunggyu a slight shove in their direction. “Now go help Noona down the mountain. Maeri’s practically dragging her down. You should go save her,” he advised. Then Woohyun walked down to the ladies and reprimanded his fiancee as he watched her pull Hani down as she slipped for the hundredth time,, “Yah! Yoo Maeri! What are you doing?”

* * *

“BED!” Maeri exclaimed as she ran and jumped onto the bed, snuggling her cheeks into the comfortable, cozy sheets.

“Yah! Yah! Yah!” Woohyun yelled following her into their bedroom, standing beside her. “You’re dirty and smell bad. Get off the bed.”

“No,” Maeri whined. She then pulled down Woohyun to lay beside her; he gave in and joined her on the bed (and he had to admit. It did feel nice after a long excursion outside). “We can wash the sheets later.”

Woohyun chuckled as he watched Maeri eyelids flutter closed. “Didn’t you already take a nap today?”

She lazily nodded. “On a rock,” she answered with a pout. “So it doesn’t count.”

“You’re silly,” Woohyun joked, poking at her nose. Maeri shifted awkwardly. His eyes then scanned her, searching for the reason why, and he found it.  Her right knee was caked in dried blood and dirt. He looked back up at her with worried eyes. “And hurt. When did that happen?”

“What?” Maeri asked, confused. She looked down and saw it. “Oh, I must’ve fallen,” she said as if it were normal. She then sat up and left the bed. “I’ll go clean it up, so it doesn’t mess up the sheets.”

Woohyun rolled over onto his side, watching her enter the bathroom. “Do you want me to do it?” he asked, remembering what had happened with Hani earlier that day.

Maeri shook her head as she already had her leg propped up on the toilet seat and dabbed the blood away with a cloth. “I think I can handle a little scrap,” she coolly replied with a smirk.

“I thought so,” Woohyun mumbled to himself with a sad sigh. He reluctantly watched her patch up her knee. He played with the sheets under his fingers. “Honey, do you still hate me?” he asked the question nagging in the back of his mind.

“Huh?” Maeri looked up, surprised.

“Earlier, you said that you hated me,” his voice was slightly muffled against the pillow beneath his head.

Maeri smoothed out the bandage on her knee with a sigh. “Sweetie, you know that I could never really hate you,” she replied. She had forgotten how Woohyun, even after years of teasing and curt words, didn’t like to fool around with words like ‘hate.’ While she might have meant it at the moment, the feeling had already fled. But she knew that Woohyun would need more assurance than just that. “You’re my husband, and I love you,” she said cheerfully,kneeling at his side. But he said nothing, nothing at all. And his eyes were closed, and soft snores were passing through his lips. “YAH! Are you asleep?!” she exclaimed in hushed tones. She laughed to herself. It looked like she wasn’t the only one worn out from the day’s activities. She got up and laid next to him, threading her fingers through his hair. “I could never really hate you,” she repeated as she drifted off into sleep herself.


	18. Timing (age 18)

While growing up, _The Runaway Bunny_ was Hani’s favorite book. Her mother used to quote it every day to her, and Hani would playfully run away from her screaming joyfully, “No!” as her mother would chase her around the house. It was their fun little game that would ultimately end with her mother catching up to her and snuggling her warmly in her arms.

During that time, she was often told that she had looked and acted just like her mother. Just as pretty and just as jovial and care-free. She had delighted in being a mini-version of her mother, whom she thought could do no wrong…until she actually did.

But as she got older, she truly became that bunny who so desperately wanted to run away from its mother. And her mother became this looming, inescapable shadow over her life, painting Hani in a despicable shade. For once, Hani wished that people stopped comparing her to her mother. But they didn’t.

During Hani’s final year of high school, a year that was supposed to be bitter-sweet, a time of celebration, she was on top. She was a first-string striker and a captain of the women’s soccer team. She considered by almost all of her classmates as a dear friend. And she had a sweet and caring boyfriend, Junseo, who happened to be the captain of the male soccer team. Even her grades (while not top of her class) were decent enough to earn her a sizable scholarship at the local university. But it was a long fall from the top, and as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t entirely blame her mother for it, although she may have been the catalyst for the chain of events that ended her final year.

At the beginning of the second semester, Hani’s mother ran off with another man, a younger man by ten years. She didn’t even care to run far away from her family and lived in the next town over with her new man, where they ran a bar together; she would still wander about the town hand in hand with her new lover, in front of the eyes of judgmental and gossipy peers, in front of Hani and her father.

Hani would have been elated that her mother found love and happiness, if she had thought she was unhappy before, if Hani had seen her parents fall out of love with each other. But her father didn’t. Her mother’s affair came as a shock to her and her father. He became almost catatonic at the news, missing work so much that he was eventually fired. Hani had to take care of him, forced him to eat, sleep, survive.

Her mother’s disregard for her father soon grew into a disregard for Hani. She could remember it clearly, her mother at their front door, her bags packed with all of her belongings, and the headlights from the car taking her away shining through the windows. “Hani, come with me. I’m not going far away, so you can stay at the same school, stay with your friends. Come with me, and we’ll be happier together, without that bastard.” And out of the corner of her eye, Hani could see the said ‘bastard,’ kneeling at the dining table in silence, hearing every harsh word coming from her mother’s mouth. At that moment, Hani wondered what had happened for things to get this way, what signs she had missed, and what she could’ve done to stop it. The only reason she had for everything was that her mother ‘had found love.’ If this was love, then what did she have with her father? Apparently nothing but hate now.

“I’m staying with Dad,” Hani was firm in her decision. After all, if she had left, he would have nothing but an empty house (Hani’s older sister, Hana, was away at college during this time and avoided her parents and sister, refusing to take sides).

She still remembered the sneer on her mother’s face. “You always did take after him,” she retorted with a slam of the door. Leaving Hani to ponder for years what she meant by that, because up until that point, she was always her mother’s daughter.

And she was still seen that way by her peers. Rumors flew around the halls of the school. Whispers were buzzing behind her back. Friends had disappeared from her side. No one wanted to be next to the daughter of a flighty woman who abandoned responsibilities to run a dodgy bar with an equally dodgy and younger man. After all, the similarities between her and her mother were too numerous to count. Who’s to say she wouldn’t do the same? That she wouldn’t abandon everything so freely in a blink of an eye on a whim?

Only a handful of friends, including Maeri whom she always considered as a little sister, remained. Maeri tried her best to cheer her up and console her with distractions, but like with Woohyun, Maeri wasn’t any better at comforting Hani either. Her boyfriend, Junseo, was no better. He was worse.

“Let’s break up,” he proposed the week after her mother left, during which he had ignored her.

“Why?”

“Because it’s nearing the end of our last year, and we’re going to different colleges. It’s inevitable.”

“But I thought we’re going to the same school.”

“Not anymore. I got a soccer scholarship somewhere else, and I took it.”

“Oh, okay.”

Thinking that the break-up was only about that, Hani let him go with a sad smile. He was probably right anyway, and she didn’t really believe in the endurance of love anymore. Although her heart cracked at the news, it was still holding together until later that afternoon.

Hani was passing the boys’ locker room and noticed that it was opened by just a crack. Feeling embarrassed for them in case they were to get exposed (in fact she had to shoo away a few of the underclassmen away from the door, who were trying to sneak a peek), Hani reached to shut it, but her fingers froze soon afterwards.

“I’m glad that I got rid of that bitch. It was time, especially with her mom wh**ing around. Didn’t want to get attached to that. Besides, I was only dating her because she made me look good, but now…” He whistled lowly. “I can’t run away fast enough.” A murmur of his teammates’ approval echoed throughout the halls.

It was unmistakable whose voice that was. It was Junseo, bragging to his teammates about how he just dumped the formerly most popular girl in school, like it was an honor, like she was a disgrace. And their relationship, which Hani thought was founded on mutual trust and affection, really existed for social standing only. The most popular guy must date the most popular girl; it was only right.

Hani pulled away from the door, put her back up against the wall, and crumbled onto the floor. Her heart finally broke into thousands of tiny pieces after losing the one thing holding it together: faith in other people.

“Shut the Hell up!” a voice rose up from the excited chatter. Hani lifted her head. That voice sounded so familiar, but she just couldn’t place it. Before she could identify it, Junseo spoke up again.

“What’s wrong, Nam? Got a problem with me?”

“Yea I do,” the unknown teammate argued. “Noona has enough problems already.” He scoffed. “I guess you’re not one any longer.”

“Noona? Noona?!” Junseo laughed. “You _like_ her, don’t you? You’re in luck, Nam. She probably prefers younger men just like her mother, the sl-” Junseo was interrupted by a clashing sound from the lockers, and the murmur of the teammates grew louder and angrier. “What the Hell?” Junseo’s voice rose above all of the noise. “You asked for it.”

Nothing could be heard but the shouts of the team, egging each other on. It was evident that a fight broke out. Hani was trying to find the strength in her legs to leave, but the soccer coach brushed past her and into the locker room to break up the fight. “Yah! Yah! Yah! Stop it right now, or I’m benching all of you and playing the first years,” he threatened in a booming voice. Hani took it as her cue to leave. She got up from the floor, and steadying herself with the wall, she began to slowly make her way down the hall.

She made it halfway when she saw the soccer team hurry past her, making their way out the door and down to the practice fields. Junseo didn’t even spare her a glance as he trudged on by, but Hani looked up and saw that he had a split lip and a bruising cheek. A smile immediately spread across her face.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to bench you. Rules are rules,” Hani heard the coach say behind her. She automatically stiffened, knowing that she was the ultimate cause for the fight. She was afraid of getting caught. Her eyes were fastened to her feet as the coach and the player passed by her. “I don’t blame you. I would’ve clocked the guy too, but I expected more from you, Woohyun.”

Hani’s head shot up. _Woohyun? Isn’t that Maeri’s friend?_ Sure enough, there was her dongsaeng’s best friend with his head hanging down, his long black messy hair hiding his embarrassed face, nodding along to the coach’s lecture. Her eyes trailed down to his hands. His knuckles were red. "Yes sir," Woohyun muttered. "I understand."

Hani tried hard to choke down the "sorry" threatening to come out as a reflex. She had known very well how much Woohyun had loved the sport and now because of her, it was being taken away. However, she did the best thing that she probably could have done for him at the moment, Hani turned around and walked away, pretending like nothing had happened.

* * *

But Hani couldn't spend the rest of her life pretending like nothing happened, not with her father still acting like nothing more than a specter and with whispers following her every step. So like the little bunny in her story, she was going to run away and hopefully escape her mother once and for all. She applied to a program at Manchester, luckily knowing enough English to pass the minimal requirement. She felt guilty fleeing the country, but she wondered if her father would even notice if she left (he did). However, she couldn't stay in that small town any longer.

Unfortunately, her guilt only grew when she told Maeri the news. "But Unnie, you can't!" Maeri protested, trapping the soccer ball underneath her foot and refusing to pass it back. Her eyes were wide with panic. "You were going to stay here. You were going to be here and help the team. You can't! What am I going to do?"

Hani sighed. She didn't account for this. She had forgotten about her promises that she made to the team...to Maeri. They were close, like real sisters, and so Hani hoped like a true sister, Maeri would understand where she was coming from. Hani chewed her lip and replied, "It's a really good program. And I want to explore the world while I'm still young."

Maeri looked at her suspiciously and then grumbled, "Fine." She finally passed the ball back to Hani with a pout fixed on her lips. "As long as you're not doing this to run away from that butthead," Maeri added.

Hani laughed, recalling how when she told Maeri about the break-up, she had to restrain the younger from keying his car and other acts of vengeance. If anything, this whole experience had showed who her true friends were, and Hani was glad that Maeri was one of them, which made her all the more sad to be breaking her promise. "To be honest," Hani began quietly, passing the ball back and forth between her feet, avoiding the other's eyes. "I'm running away from more than just him."

"I know." Hani lifted her head and saw Maeri suddenly closer to her. She didn't necessarily like the look of pity on her dongsaeng's face, but it was better than disappointment. Maeri understood. "Unnie," Maeri called to her and put her hands on the older's shoulders. Hani looked her straight in the eye, worried about what the younger might say. "Let me set you up. Just once. Please!" Maeri begged cutely, putting up one finger.

"Huh?" Hani chuckled in disbelief.

"Before you leave for England, let me set you up on a date," Maeri explained. "It'll be like a palate cleanser! Washing the horrible taste of butthead from your mouth." Hani started laughing at that. Maeri had a way of always putting her at ease. "I'd hate for you to leave Korea thinking that all men here are jerks because maybe then...you'll come back."

 _So that's the reason_. Hani smiled and patted Maeri's shoulder. "Of course I'll come back," she promised. "I'll miss the food!"

Maeri looked more relaxed after hearing that. She grinned and stole the ball from Hani's feet. "And the date?" she asked as she flicked the ball upwards and began juggling it on her thigh.

Hani watched the ball bounce as she mulled it over. She had an idea of who Maeri would ask. After all, Maeri had few male friends, and only one that she could easily ask favors of. Hani grinned. She at least owed the boy a meal for what he had done for her. "Sure," Hani acquiesced.

Maeri let the ball drop to the ground. She ran over to Hani and began jumping up and down. The older couldn't help but to be caught up in her excitement. "Thanks Unnie! I won't let you down!"

* * *

Hani hated to admit it, but Maeri actually did let her down. That Friday night, Hani was at her favorite restaurant for possibly the last time in awhile, dressed in her favorite one-piece dress with her make-up carefully done. She hadn't expected to be so excited about this date. She didn't know much about Woohyun other than he was cute, liked soccer, and was Maeri's best friend. But Woohyun probably knew as much about her as she did of him, and yet he still fought for her that day. Hani wanted to know why. She smiled to herself as she fiddled with the hoop earring she was wearing. Her mind was running wild, making up reasons for his actions. _Hani, don't be silly_ , she chided herself and placed her other hand over her heart. _Nothing can happen. You're running away. Even if he did like you, you can't take him with you._

And maybe it was lucky that nothing did happen that night. "Unnie!" Maeri yelled from across the room with a worried look on her face. She scurried over with her head down. Once she reached the table she bowed and apologized, "I'm sorry! I'm late!"

Hani laughed and pulled Maeri to sit down with her at the table. "Don't be sorry. But where is..."

"Argh!" Maeri groaned loudly, ruffling her hair. "Jerk! He's the reason why I'm late!"

"Huh?"

Maeri lifted her head, half of her hair was covering her face. "That jerk, Nam Woohyun, canceled at the last minute because Seungho got them tickets to some dumb basketball game," she answered. Her voice sounded a bit hoarse, most likely from yelling at her friend over the phone.

"Oh," Hani muttered. She pulled herself up straight in the both. Her eyes fixed on her lap. She screwed her eyes shut. _It's probably better this way_.

"Whatever. It's better this way," Maeri spoke the other's thoughts out loud. "Because," she said in a sing-song-y tone. "I found you someone better. And...OH! Here he comes now! Myungsoo-yah, over here!" And once the handsome boy reached the table, Maeri got up and gave her seat to her friend. Maeri put her hands on Myungsoo's shoulders and patted them. "He's a nice kid." Myungsoo chuckled at that, covering his mouth. Maeri blushed and immediately retracted her hands, putting them up in the air to wave goodbye at the couple instead. "You two will have fun!" she said as she turned around and left.

Hani couldn't help but to let out a sigh through her puffed cheeks as she watched her dongsaeng leave the restaurant. She then turned to face Myungsoo who was politely smiling at her, and she returned the gesture. Myungsoo took some encouragement from that sign. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and asked, "So you're going to England? Tell me about it." And Hani was more than happy to oblige. She was more comfortable talking about her future than the past. So they talked about what they would do in the upcoming years, ate, and exchanged embarrassing stories (mostly involving Maeri, their one common denominator). They spent the evening pleasantly that way. And like Maeri had intended, Myungsoo made the perfect palate cleanser, allowing Hani to leave this small town on a good note and with a pleasant memory.

But she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if the timing was a bit better. If the date was one day later or sooner, or if the game was canceled, what would have happened

* * *

Then years later, the timing finally seemed right. Hani hadn't recognized Woohyun at first (the years had chiseled his face and wizened his eyes), but something about him felt familiar, felt almost like home. She wanted to explore that feeling more because after spending some time back in Korea, playing around with Woohyun in the library was the first time that she felt like she belonged. She thought it was a sign. However, she was wrong. The timing couldn't have been worse. Woohyun and Maeri were engaged, and Hani was encroaching on dangerous territory. One misstep, one little fall, and it could be disastrous.

For _all_ of them.


	19. Timing (age 30)

“You’re timing is off…Jump on my count okay…1,2,3!”

Woohyun bent his knees, but then abruptly straightened himself. “Wait! Do we jump on three or after?” He scratched the back of his head and asked, “Before?”

“Good point,” Maeri agreed letting go of Woohyun’s hand and fixed her dress. It was heavy, bulky, nearly impossible to jump in, but Maeri was going to try her darnedest to jump. She wanted these  photos to come out spectacular so that years from now, when she and Woohyun were reminiscing and looking back through their wedding photos, he can’t make fun of her for being unable to take off from the ground. She glanced over at him, who was currently jumping up and down on the balls of his feet in his tuxedo. Maeri laughed;  although they were in their wedding grab, they looked like they were about to run a marathon rather than take wedding photos. Both of their expressions were too determined and serious.

And the photographer knew it. “Okay. How about we forget about the jumping? It’s overdone anyways,” Myungsoo suggested. He tightened his grip on the camera as he watched the strange couple in front of him slowly stop stretching. He nodded in thought and came to a conclusion, “Woohyun, why don’t you pick up Maeri and spin her around?”

Woohyun turned to face Maeri and looked her up and down. He pouted. “Do I have to? She’s heavy,” he whined, almost immediately earning a sharp slap on his head.

“You guys really didn’t change one bit," Myungsoo replied with a chuckle and a shake of his head. Maeri and Woohyun looked at each other and shrugged, not knowing what the photographer had meant. "Come on, give it a shot," Myungsoo urged them and gestured at Woohyun to pick up his would-be bride. Woohyun obliged, lifting Maeri up with a grunt. The dress added pounds to her, and Woohyun was suddenly grateful for his rigorous work-out routine or else he probably would have crumbled onto the ground. He then spun his fiancee slowly around in a circle with heavy and clumsy steps. And the both of them were fakely laughing, feigning happiness (because Maeri was afraid that Woohyun was suddenly going to drop her without any notice and Woohyun was straining). Myungsoo winced at the scene in front of him and put down the camera, not wanting to waste any film on this. "Um," he began. The couple immediately turned towards him. Woohyun dropped Maeri onto the ground, and she luckily had expected it and landed on her feet. "The laughing is nice and everything, but what if you laugh like this," Myungsoo demonstrated by laughing normally. "Instead of," Myungsoo then retracted his neck, producing a manifold of neck wrinkles, and laughed awkwardly. The couple nodded and tried again, laughing even more stiffly but with their necks sticking straight out. Myungsoo let out a groan which only grew louder when Maeri slipped from Woohyun's grip and landed on her behind. "And Woohyun, stop dropping her!” the photographer was growing irritated.

Woohyun looked at his former classmate innocently and pointed to Maeri on the ground. “Tell her to lose some weight,” he fought back.

“Myungsoo," Maeri asked sweetly as she got up from the ground and straightened out her dress. "Can we do I picture where I beat the crap out of my loving husband?” She was already mimicking choking her fiance with a happy grin on her face.

Myungsooo put his camera strap on his shoulder and rubbed his eyes. “How about we take five while I go…think of new poses you can do,” he grumbled and then walked away from the couple.

Maeri grimaced and whispered over to Woohyun as she watched Myungsoo kick a nearby tree in frustration, “I think we made him mad.”

“For what we’re paying him, he shouldn’t be getting mad,” Woohyun retorted.

“We’re not paying him anything," Maeri whispered back.  Myungsoo had know slumped under the tree with his head hanging down. She felt bad for wasting the photographer's patience. "This is his wedding gift to us.”

“Oh," Woohyun realized. "Then maybe we should be easier on him," he suggested and looked over at his friend. Maeri was already gipping onto his shoulder as she stumbled into him. Woohyun immediately gripped her at her elbows and lifted her back up. "Yah! You’re looking a bit wobbly. Why don’t you sit down?” he asked, leading her to a bench nearby.

“Yeah," Maeri inhaled sharply as she sat down. "These shoes are killing me." She then tried to bend over, but because of her corset, she could barely move. She looked up at Woohyun who was still standing in front of her with a worried expression. "Can you help me take them off? I can’t bend over. See," Maeri said with a grunt as she displayed the extent of her mobility. All she could to is lift up her feet slightly off the ground and lean forward a couple of inches.

Woohyun chuckled as he bent down onto his knees, bringing down Maeri's legs with him. “Sure," he agreed, smiling back up at her. His friend muttered a brief "thank you," and then Woohyun looked down, really seeing Maeri's dress for the first time. The beading was really intricately done, like little starbursts blooming all over the bottom. The fabric was glistening in the sun, and there were several layers which now peeked under the dresses hem that gave the skirt its voluminous poof. It was beautiful, but it wasn't Maeri. "Did our moms pick out the dress?" he asked. "It’s pretty.”

“It’s a cupcake,” Maeri mumbled as she patted down the poof around her.

“I like cupcakes," Woohyun joked with a chuckle and lifted up the skirt. He then looked down and gasped, "Geez Maeri! Why are you wearing these? They’re too small.” The shoes' straps were cutting into her flesh, and her heel was hanging over the end. Her foot was starting to turn to a slightly bluish hue from lack of blood flow. Woohyun sighed as he started to undo the straps. He didn't know how she was able to last this long without crying out in pain. But then again, giving into pain wasn't exactly Yoo Maeri's style anyways.

“They were, ugh, thanks, my mother’s," she explained as Woohyun took off her first shoe. She rolled her foot and hit it onto the ground to regain feeling into her foot. It felt as if it were being pricked with thousands of pins, but at least there was still some feeling there. "She wore them on her wedding day, and she’s been married to dad for 28 years. I thought it would be a good luck charm, that our marriage would last that long too.” She hummed happily as Woohyun pulled off the other shoe and tossed it aside.

“Our marriage might, but your feet won’t," he teased. He lifted one of her feet and inspected it. "We’ll have to cut them off.”

“Eh, I never liked them anyway,” Maeri responded nonchalantly with a shrug. The two of them began laughing, genuinely laughing together for the first time that day

The laughter was soon broken by a shutter of a camera. The couple craned their necks back to see Myungsoo smiling brightly with his camera once again in his hands. “I think I found a solution,” he said proudly.

And that solution was to stage nothing, just to let Maeri and Woohyun act naturally. This not only let their natural smiles shine through, but the photos reflected their relationship better, especially the shots of them whispering to each other and them chasing ducks along the pond's banks and just sitting on the bench with Maeri's head on Woohyun's shoulder. In fact, they turned out so well that Myungsoo was planning to use them for his next exhibition, with permission from his former classmates of course.

* * *

“If I don’t go for a higher price than Sungjong, I think I might die of embarrassment,” Sora lamented as she leaned back onto the counter of the auction house. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she narrowed her eyes on the young man standing in front of her.

Sungjong smirked. “Please, it’s not even a contest. I’m younger," he retorted cockily. And then he turned his head to the side as he said under his breath, "And better looking.” Maeri laughed, having heard the aside. Although she was currently the only one of the trio doing work, trying to find the painter of the painting that they had recently acquired, and the other two were busy debating about the charity auction that weekend. It was going to be different than their other auctions because not only were items up for sale, but dates as well, and Sungjong and Sora  (only with other volunteers) had been roped into it. Now Sora was starting to realize that she might be outsold by the house's recent hire, which would be a hit to her inflated ego (she had gone for the highest price in the previous years).

“He’s got a point," an older voice spoke, coming out of the backroom. Maeri jumped out of shock and turned to see Debah, her employer, coming out from the shadows of their storage room. "He’ll outsell the both of you,” she teased pointing at both Sora and Maeri.

“Me?" Maeri gasped, pointing to herself. Debah nodded as she placed some folders into drawers. "I’m going to be a part of the date auction, b-but I’m engaged!” she stuttered out a defense.

“I’m married, and I’m still doing it,” Sora argued and suddenly picked up a random antique, pretending to be examining it and being busy. 

“You’re separated,” Maeri fought back, to which Sora only responded with a shrug.

Debah then pulled herself up straight and cocked her head. “Are you saying, Maeri-ssi, that you don’t want to help us raise money for the leukemia foundation?” she challenged.

“Aaaaaah…no?” Maeri stammered in reply.

“Good," Debah responded with a smile. She then walked over and placed her hand on Maeri's shoulder. "Wear something that will show off your, ahem, assets," she instructed and gestured around Maeri's body. "We need you to at least fetch over $100. Maybe if we attach to some fancy dinner or…piece of jewelry," she mused as she bit her lip in thought. Debah then shook her head. "Oh dear, I have to plan this out,” she said in a worried voice and scurried off back into the storage room.

Maeri looked at the other two with wide eyes. “Did Debah-ssi just insinuate that I’m not going to sell?” she asked.

“No, Noona. Of course not," Sungjong responded. Maeri let out a sigh of relief, which she immediately inhaled back in with Sungjong's next comment, "You’re just not going for a very high price.”

“Ugh!" Maeri groaned, running her fingers through her hair. "I feel like a cheap hooker.”

“Don’t worry, Maeri." Sora walked over to the other side of the counter and patted her coworker's hunched back. "Maybe you could get Woohyun to buy you, and you guys can make a joint ‘donation,’” she proposed

Maeri lifted her head. “You mean I help Woohyun to pay for me so that I can sell for a higher price?”

“Eung,” Sora replied with a nod.

Maeri put her head in her hands as she thought aloud, “Not a bad idea.”

Sungjong leaned over the counter, placing his face right in front of Maeri's. “So how much is pride going for nowadays?” he teased with a knowing smiling. Maeri forced a smile on her face as she dragged her hand down Sungjong's, trying to wipe that bright grin from his face.

“Not all of us can be pretty like you.”

* * *

“Too bad you’re not pretty like Sungjong," Woohyun spoke in a raised voice as he turned a page in his book. He was laying in bed, casually reading while Maeri was in the bathroom, preparing to come to bed with him. "I can’t imagine how much some girls would be willing to pay to go out with that.”

Maeri poked her head out from the bathroom door. A toothbrush was hanging from the corner of her mouth. “And ahjummahs. They’re the ones with money," she added and foam spilled from her mouth onto her chin. She then ducked back into the bathroom to spit, rinse, and wipe her mouth clean. Shortly afterwards, she jumped into bed with Woohyun. She shyly looked up at him as she began, "Speaking of money…”

“Yes, I’ll buy you, my cheap little hooker," he cooed. Maeri oddly took that comment well and smiled as she got underneath the sheets. Because it went over well, Woohyun decided to push the scenario even further, "Hey. Does this make me a pimp?”

Maeri hummed and jutted out her chin as she seriously pondered the silly question over. “I think Debah-ssi is…or the foundation because all the money is going to them,” she answered.

Woohyun closed his book and set it aside. “So what does that make me?” he asked as he laid back onto his pillow.

“The horny and desperate guy," Maeri immediately retorted. She giggled and nodded. _That sounds right_ , she thought. She then leaned over and placed a peck on Woohyun's pouting lips. "Good night, Hyun. I need to get my beauty rest  if I’m going to beat out Sungjong.”

“You’re going to have to sleep for 100 years to beat him. Ow!” Woohyun yelped in pain. Maeri had kicked him. He flipped over onto his side to give her his best wounded face, but she was just grinning as she closed her eyes.

“Night, Hyunnie.”

* * *

The following afternoon, Woohyun was in his office busily replying to his emails. He had come in that morning with over a hundred emails to respond to, and now he only had a handful left. He was so immerged in his work that he didn't notice his coworker, dragging his feet towards his desk. After feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle, Woohyun glanced behind him.

“Woah!" he yelped, clutching his heart. Sungyeol was only inches behind him, his hair a mess, heavy bags under his eyes, and a death grip on the coffee mug in his hands. Woohyun looked the other up from top to bottom. "Yeol, you look dead,” he commented.

“I am dead," Sungyeol replied in a hoarse whisper, tearing one hand off of the mug to rubbed his face.  He continued, his voice muffled by the hand over his face, "I died 3 nights ago when I was painting the baby’s room. At first we painted it pink because Soyeon swore it was a girl. The next night she made me go buy green paint because it was more gender neutral. And I said, ‘So is pink. I like pink. I’m a guy, so let’s keep it that way.’ Then she called me lazy and unsupportive, going on about how I didn’t care about her or the baby." He let out a deep sigh and dropped his hand. "So I got the paint.”

“So the room’s green now?” Woohyun asked, spinning his desk chair around to face him head-on.

“Nope it’s yellow," Sungyeol quickly replied. He then took a long sip from his mug and let out a content noise (almost like a moan). He slowly opened his eyes and explained, "They call this stage ‘nesting,’ but they should really call it ‘freaking the f**k out.’ “

Woohyun fiddled with the pen in his hands. His mind was beginning to fill with anxiety for his own future. If nice and polite Soyeon was driving Sungyeol crazy, Woohyun could only imagine what Maeri would be like with her hormones running haywire. “Sounds like it sucks,” he mumbled.

“Not really." Woohyun perked up to see Sungyeol with a slight smile. His eyes had grown brighter. "As weird as it sounds, it’s actually bringing us closer together. And it’s fun.”

Woohyun chuckled, “You have a weird definition of fun.”

Sungyeol a bit as well. “Maybe," he agreed, looking foundly into his coffee mug. But then he suddenly perked up his head. He immediately stuck his head out into the hallway. "Oh, yeobo, what are you doing here?" he asked, and when he pulled his head back into his office, Soyeon came in too, farther along in her pregnancy than Woohyun had expected. In fact, she waddled into the office more than she walked. Her belly had grown too large for her frame. Sungyeol noticed that she was having difficulty and gripped her elbows, guiding her into the room and placing her down into a chair. "You’re supposed to be home, resting,” he chided,

“Well, I got _rest_ less," Soyeon retorted, looking up at Sungyeol with a warm smile. Then she pouted, "And I missed you…but mostly I got hungry. Jagi, can we eat?”

“Wow!" Woohyun couldn't hold it in anymore. He looked the woman up and down with round eyes. "Soyeon, is that you? You’re really coming along!”

And Woohyun in all of his naivete, did not know that that was the exact wrong thing to tell a pregnant woman. Soyeon faced him with shining eyes, and Woohyun was beginning to realize his mistake. “Did…you…," she stopped to snivel. "Just…say…I’m….big? Oh my gosh!" Soyeon cried as she buried her face into her hands. Her body was shaking like a leaf. "I’m a cow. I’m a huge cow!”

“No, no, no," Woohyun denied, waving his hand violently in the air. "I never said that!”

Soyeon lifted her head. Her eyes cut through him like lasers. “But that’s what you meant!" she snapped back. "And I know. I know. I am a cow.”

“I, uh, eh, ah," Woohyun stammered. He looked up to Sungyeol for help (who was happy for once that he wasn't the one to make his wife upset). Woohyun mouthed to him helplessly, "What do I do?”

Sungyeol immediately nodded and raised his hand at Woohyun to wait. He then got down on his knee, next to his wife, clasping them with his hands. He brought his knuckle under her chin and raised her head up from her hands so that they would be face to face. “But, yeobo, you might be a cow," he started with a warm smile. "But you’re the sexiest cow I’ve ever seen!”

Soyeon sniffed and wiped her tears. “A sexy cow?” she questioned.

“Eung," Sungyeol grunted with a nod. Woohyun had never seen his coworked speak to or treat someone so gently. He was impressed. "Sexier than a manatee, a sea cow!”And then there was the crass Sungyeol Woohyun had come to know.

But it drew a laugh from his wife. “Manatees are sexy? Since when?” she played along.

“They are so sexy that from faaaaaaaaaaaar away, sailors swore that they were mermaids,” he explained.

A smile appeared slowly on Soyeon's face, and she dropped her gaze in embarrassment. Apparently, even after all of this time with her husband, she still grew shy whenever he complimented her. “I’m prettier than a mermaid?” she asked in a small voice.

Sungyeol stroked her cheek under the pad of his thumb. “Always.”

Soyeon then leaned forward and pecked Sungyeol on the nose. “Thank you, honey. And you’re more handsome than a baboon," she 'complimented' her husband. Then she stood up from her seat with a slight wobble. After regaining her balance, she turned to Woohyun. "Now I have to go freshen up. I’m a bit of a mess. Sorry, Woohyun,” she apologized as she gingerly dabbed her red and tear-stained face.

“Don’t worry about it," Woohyun muttered soullessly. He was astounded by the quick turn of events. So he silently watched Soyeon leave his office in search for a bathroom. After the coast was clear, Woohyun looked at his coworker. "Okay, how the Hell did you do that?”

“This is what I meant," Sungyeol stated as he leaned onto Woohyun's desk, and although he was rubbing his tired eyes, he still had the warm smile on his face. "You learn things about each other through marriage and especially through a pregnancy. You learn how to handle in other in every given situation, every high and low. I’ve had a couple meltdowns myself, and Soyeon helped me through them." Sungyeol paused and turned to Woohyun. He clicked his tongue as he cocked his head. "But you and Maeri though, I don’t know what else you can learn about.”

Woohyun wondered if that was true. He certainly knew how to tick Maeri off with one word, but could he take her from crying to laughter in a few seconds like Sungyeol did for Soyeon? _I have nothing to worry about. Maeri doesn’t even cry. And she doesn’t like babies, so she might not even get pregnant_ , he joked bitterly to himself. In spite of their 16 year friendship and knowing almost every single detail of Maeri’s life, doubts fluttered about Woohyun’s mind. With Sungyeol and Soyeon, marriage was as easy as breathing. _Isn’t it the same way with her?_

_It is, but I better not screw this up though._

“Sungyeol, how much would you pay for Soyeon?” Woohyun suddenly asked.

Sungyeol's head sprung up, and he glared at his coworker curiously. “She’s not for sale,” he replied darkly.

“No," Woohyun denied. "I’m going to this date auction on Friday, and I have to ‘buy’ Maeri. I don’t know what’s the going rate for wives these days,” he ended his explanation with a chuckle. 

Sungyeol tossed his head back and tapped his forefinger onto his chin. He was in deep though, taking the question seriously. But then his wife walked back into the office. Then he snapped back into husband-mode, mostly in fear of offending her again. He wrapped his arm around her waist, barely. “Me? I’d pay a million dollars for her. I’d go into debt and sell my body,” he declared dramatically. Woohyun rolled his eyes at the display.

And so did Soyeon. She also gently hit his chest for good measure. “Stop it," she said with a laugh of disbelief. "You wouldn’t.”

“No, I totally would," Sungyeol denied with a shake of his head. "I’d eat nothing but ramyun for the rest of my life to have you by my side," he boasted, rubbing his cheek lovingly against hers, almost making Woohyun want to gag (but deep, deep, _deep_ in the back of his mind, he found it a tiny bit sweet, even though it was all a lie). _And Maeri thinks I'm gross_ , Woohyun thought and scoffed aloud. "We better be going," Sungyeol then announced, leading his wife out of the office. "See you later, Woohyun," he waved goodbye, but right before he was completely out of the office (and behind Soyeon's back), Sungyeol poked his head back in and motioned '250' to his coworker.

Woohyun laughed as Sungyeol ducked back out. "250 it is," he spoke to himself as he turned back to his computer. Then he cocked his head. "That's still a bit high for Maeri. She's not a luxury model or anything."

* * *

Even though Maeri wasn't a luxury model, when the night of the charity auction arrived, Woohyun decided to treat her like one, which would probably embarrass her. He stopped as he was picking out a bouquet at the local flowershop. Would Maeri like it? Or would she feel burdened? Ever since he had seen Sungyeol and Soyeon, Woohyun had been a bit on edge, questioning everything. Woohyun hated it. So he shook his head and grabbed the bouquet of roses. He was going to be romantic, and Maeri was going to like it (probably). But before he bought the bouquet, a familiar figure caught his sight. 

“Oh, Dongwoo, what are you doing here?”

Dongwoo picked his head up from sniffing some lilles. He waved to his ex-roommate as he pointed to the flowers. “Picking up some flowers for Boram-noona. I’m thinking about…” he said as he was trying to reach for a collection of pink flowers, but Woohyun slapped it away.

“No,” he commanded, wagging a finger in Dongwoo's face like he was reprimanding a child.

Dongwoo looked at the other with round and hopeful eyes. “B-but I really think we can work it out,” he stutters as he reached for the flowers again.

Woohyun hit his friend with the bouquet of roses (he definitely has to buy them now). “No," he repeated, and Dongwoo finally dropped his hand. "This girl wanted to break up with you because you were the wrong kind of doctor. Do you really think that can change?”

Dongwoo's eyes were fixed on the floor as replied, “Well, if I just overlook that…”

“You’re too forgiving. She’s not worth it," Woohyun cut him off and put his arm around the other's shoulders. He had no idea that his friend was this lonely, lonely enough to pursue what seemed to be a terrible relationship. Woohyun couldn't help but to feel partially responsible because with all of this planning recently, he had put Dongwoo on the back burner, and now Dongwoo was burnt and neglected.  Woohyun opened his mouth to apologize, but his phone rang in his pocket. He looked at the caller ID; it was his brother.  _I better take this_. So instead of apologizing he said this, "Hold on, I’m getting a phone call. Don’t do anything stupid. Just don’t move." He slowly backed away from his former roommate, keeping a close eye on him. Woohyun then answered the call, "Yea, hyung. What’s up?”

“Woohyun, I need your help. Is Maeri with you?” his brother asked in a panicked tone.

“No, I’m going to meet her later why?" Woohyun replied cautiously. Then he caught Dongwoo trying to steal his own bouquet from his hands. He hit his friend with the bouquet again. "No, Dongwoo, stop it!” he reprimanded. Some stems broke and petals scattered onto the floor. Now he'll  _really_  have to buy the flowers.

“Dongwoo’s with you?! That’s even better!” Boohyun exclaimed.

“Why?" Woohyun returned his attention back to the conversation. "Are you okay?”

“I am, but my wife isn't," Boohyun answered with a deep sigh. "Her grandfather just died. There’s a gathering about 5 hours away, and Haeunnie isn’t ready for a trip that long yet.”

_Ah so that's it_. Woohyun gripped the flowers tightly in his hands. There goes his date night. “You want me to take care of her?”

“Just for the night," his brother tried to assure him. "We’ll be back tomorrow. And with Dongwoo, it’ll be easy. That kid speaks their language.” He ended with a laugh.

Woohyun's eyes darted over to his friend who was now trying on the flower crown displays, trying to wear all of them at once. “Yea, you’re telling me," Woohyun mumbled, rubbing his hand in his face. "Okay, I’ll do it, but you owe me, hyung.”

“I know. I know. I’ll get you a nice Christmas gift," Boohyun said. His voice sounded much more relieved now. "I’ll be at your place in 15 minutes to drop Haeunnie off.”

“You were already on your way?!” Woohyun gasped as he was trying to put the 6th flower crown on Dongwoo's head (Dongwoo couldn't read and Woohyun is a good helper).

“That’s only because I have such a dependable baby brother," Woohyun could practically hear Boohyun's grin.

“Yea whatever," Woohyun scoffed. "I’ll see you soon." He hung up the phone and put it back into his pocket. He looked at Dongwoo and sighed. Taking off the crowns, he announced, "Change of plans, Woo. We’re going to be taking care of my niece tonight.”

“Your niece? The baby?" Dongwoo excitedly asked. Woohyun nodded. "Call!”

* * *

“What?! Is everything okay?” Maeri asked as she left the busy lobby of the auction house. She had stayed at work, gotten ready there, and helped to set up. She had expected her fiance to walk through the doors at any minute with a fitted suit on and a sleezy smile on his face. But now he called to say he wasn't coming and was baby-sitting Haeun, whom she could hear garbling over the phone (or was that Dongwoo?). 

“Seems like it. Or at least hyung’s fine," he answered distractedly. "Look, Maeri. I’m sorry I can’t make it tonight.”

“It’s alright. I understand," Maeri responded sadly. She was fiddling around with a random flower display, which she was probably now ruining, but she had to distract herself. She was greatly looking forward to tonight and she didn't want to become jealous of a baby. "Haeunnie is important,” she mumbled darkly.

“You are too," Woohyun probably could sense her mood souring. "That’s why I’m sending in a replacement!”

“Huh?” Maeri gasped, dropping a flower onto the floor.

“Do you really think I’ll let any random guy buy my wifey? No way!" Woohyun joked in a semi-stern voice. He then chuckled at himself, "He’ll be there in a bit.”

Maeri began to walk back into the lobby and peered around the room. She saw no one familiar. “Woohyun, who is it?”

“It’s…Yah! Jang Dongwoo! Don’t eat the baby!” Woohyun interrupted himself.

Maeri could hear Dongwoo's loud laughter on the other side of the line. “Aw! It’s just a little nibble. I can’t help it! She’s so yummy. Yes, you are!” he cooed in baby-talk.

Woohyun groaned, “Honey, I got to go because someone can’t control themselves around infants. I love you, okay?”

“I love you too. Now go save Haeunnie!” Maeri jokingly commanded and then hung up the phone. She stretched her neck to get a better look around the room. It was crowded and in flux. It was hard to keep track of anything or anyone. People were mingling, getting drinks, checking out the 'wares' that were going up for auction. Sungjong had quite the gaggle of older women surrounding him, but he didn't seem to mind and politely conversed with them. But then someone else familiar walked right in front of her.  _He must be the replacement!_

“Ah! Hoya!" Maeri exclaimed as she shuffled up to the other. "I was just talking to Woohyun.”

Hoya's eyes widened. “Is that so?” he asked.

“So are you here for the auction?” Maeri wanted to slap herself for asking that. Of course he was. Why else would he be here in a suit? _Actually, I don't think I've ever seen him in a suit before. He looks nice_.

Hoya didn't seem to mind the question. He leaned in and spoke lowly as if it were a secret, “Someone special might’ve caught my eye.”

Maeri giggled softly in embarrassment and gave the other a light shove. “Someone special,” she repeated.

“Stop playing around, Maeri-ssi," Debah suddenly came up from behind Maeri and chided. Maeri clutched her heart in fright as her boss clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Work the room. Make yourself look available," she ordered. "And for gods’ sakes, put on some lipstick.” With that she left to go talk with who looked like would be the highest bidders.

Maeri brought her fingers to her lips and pouted. “But I did," she mumbled. _Maybe I look too natural_. Maeri sighed and went to go fulfill her boss's demands. "I’ll see you later, Hoya." She waved goodbye. _Maybe Sora has some?_  And as luck would have it, her coworker wasn't too far away. "Sora!" the call escaped Maeri's mind without thought. Then she remembered where she was, how inapporiate she was acting, and she noticed that Sora was currently speaking with a man. _She's working the room!_ Maeri immediately apologized, in the sweetest voice she could muster, "Oh, sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Trust me you’re not interrupting anything," Sora replied curtly. She was standing defensively with her arms across her chest. "He was just leaving.”

The man, however, didn't seem affected by Sora's rudeness. He slapped his knee and laughed dorkily, lips peeling back to only show his top row of pearly white teeth. Something about it seemed mechanical and fake. “Look at her! She’s such a kidder!" he said between laughs. He then put his arm around Sora, who looked disgusted, and turned the both of them towards Maeri. "That’s why I love this woman," the man said in a baby voice, grabbing at Sora's chin and pushing her cheeks up. He then laughed at the frown that quickly formed on Sora's face, which only seemed like a frustrated pout because her cheeks were squished. The man averted his attention away from Sora and extended his hand to Maeri. "I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Kwanghee, Sora’s husband.”

“Soon to be ex-husband,” Sora quickly added again.

“Oh!" Kwanghee reacted excessively and laughed. "There she goes again. So funny!”

Maeri couldn't bare to watch this any longer, Kwanghee's variety-show worthy reactions or Sora's disgruntled expression. Maeri reached out to take her coworker's wrist. “Sorry, Kwanghee-ssi," she apologized with a sacchrine voice and smile. "But I’m gonna have to borrow Sora for a second. I’m having make up issues.”

“Oh yea. I see what you mean," Kwanghee responded in a graze voice, gazing at Maeri's face with concern. But he still let go of Sora, finally. "Go ahead take her. Just bring her back, okay? Bye!” He waved at the two women until they were out of sight.

“Oh…my…gosh!" Maeri exclaimed once they reached the bathroom. She let go of Sora to rub the temple of her head. "That’s your husband?!” She couldn't believe it.

“Ex! Almost ex husband!" Sora countered. She scowled as she dug through her purse. "Why do people keep forgetting?” she grumbled. She then groaned in frustration and handed the purse over to Maeri.

"Oh thank you," Maeri spoke quietly, accepting the purse. She pulled out the darkest shade of lipstick she could find. No one could deny that she was wearing any now. She lifted he gaze to her friend who was fixing her own hair and make-up in the mirror, but she couldn't fix her usual smile onto her face. “Why are you leaving him? He seems to like you a lot,” Maeri asked as she gave the purse back and tried to apply the lipstick evenly.

“It’s all for show, trust me," Sora grumbled taking back the purse. Their eyes never met. Sora placed the purse on the countertop. "And he’s overcompensating," she admitted. Then she placed her hands onto the countertop and hung her head. "He cheated on me. With a couple of women.”

“Him?!” Well so much for even lipstick, because with that piece of news, Maeri distractedly drew a line of dark red onto her chin. 

Sora looked over at Maeri. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Sorry. I’m just shocked," Maeri quickly tried to remedy the situation, and her face. She rubbed at her chin harshly. "He doesn’t seem like your type at all. He’s so…”

“I know," Sora cut her off. She turned around and leaned against the counter. She sighed, either frustrated at herself or at Maeri. But she continued nonetheless, "And he’s the reason why my type changed. I really thought if I was with someone like that, it’d be the safe choice…I was wrong.”

Maeri stopped wiping her chin and looked up at her friend. She was always used to seeing a crass and cocky Sora, who almost seemed invincible. But now her coworker look defeated. “Sora…”

“It’s okay now," Sora interrupted with a lighter tone. The usual coy smile was back on her face. "I have someone else. And he treats me better. I just hope that he can afford me tonight. I’m looking good.” She winked at herself in the mirror, before grabbing her purse and leaving the bathroom.

Maeri stood there wondering who that someone was, and then she slapped herself in the forehead. “Hoya! That’s right!" she thought aloud. Her head then sprung up. "Wait a second…that’s right he’s probably here for her. You big dummy!” She hit herself again and then walked out of the bathroom again in hopes of finding Woohyun's replacement before the auction started. Soon enough, she found someone in the corner of the room, distancing himself from the hubub in the middle, Kim Myungsoo. Maeri squinted at the photographer. “Huh? Can’t be?”

“Everybody gather around!" Debah's call broke out. "The auction is about to begin!” Her boss then began to usher everyone into the main room. Maeri sighed as she watched Myungsoo obediently follow her call and went into the room before Maeri could ask why he was there. _It could possible that he wants to pick out his own date._

"Number 14," Maeri looked down at the large pin on her chest with the number 14 on it. Whoever said that was talking to her. She looked up and saw an old man leering at her. "I'll be sure to remember that," the old man commented in a slick voice. He then winked at Maeri before entering the main room. She swallowed harshly at the thought of being auctioned off to such a man.

_Hyun, you better not be lying_.

* * *

It wasn't going much easier for Woohyun either. From the moment he hung up the phone call with Maeri until now, Haeun had been crying. Nothing he or Dongwoo did could calm her down. She wasn't hungry. She had a clean diaper. Haeun was just upset. However, she miraculously calmed down when Dongwoo had set her down in the stroller when he was trying to free up his hands to give Haeun her toys. Then they discovered that she smiled whenever the stroller was pushed. But Dongwoo got tired of treading a path through Woohyun's apartment, so he coerced Woohyun into going on a night stroll with the three of them, despite it being cold outside. So they bundled up Haeun as best they could and hit the streets. And it was pleasant at first, until Woohyun noticed that they were being looked at strangely because they were two men and a baby. Woohyun cursed under his breath. He also didn't watch where he was going and accidentally ran the stroller into a lightpost. Haeun began crying again. Woohyun just plain cursed.

"Haeunnie, what is it? Did you get scared?" Dongwoo asked in a high-pitched voice. He was bent down next the the stroller and began to fuss with the baby, but nothing worked. "What do we do?"

"I don't know," Woohyun muttered and unbuckled his niece from the stroller and picked her up into his arms. He began bouncing her up and down. "Uncle's sorry, Haeunnie. Don't cry," he cooed at her. "Uncle loves you." She screamed. Woohyun looked at Dongwoo. "Apparently she doesn't love me anymore."

"Oh? Did you guys steal this baby?"

The two men craned thier necks around and saw Hani with a teasing grin. Woohyun would've been happier to see her, but as Haeun was screaming in his ears, it was hard to do anything but wince. "No, she's my..." He paused when the baby squealed particularily loudly. "Niece."

Hani walked up and reached her arms out. "Can I?" she asked. Woohyun handed the baby over. Haeun was already upset. What difference would it make if she was upset in a stranger's arms? But then...Haeun screeches turned into soft whimpers and her breathing became regular. She was calming down. Hani bounced the infant in her arms. “She’s beautiful," she praised. "I could just eat her right up.”

“Please don’t. Hyung will get mad if I bring back bare bones," Woohyun joked. "Dongwoo already tried.”

Hani lifted her gaze from the child. “Dongwoo?”

“Ah yes," Woohyun just realized how Dongwoo was awkwardly still crouching by the stroller, as if he was trying to get out of their way. Woohyun pulled him up by the collar and put his arm around Dongwoo. "Hani-noona, this is my friend, Jang Dongwoo. Woo, this is Oh Hani.” He introduced them, and they shook hands as best they could with Haeun in the way.

As soon as he pulled away, Dongwoo made a realization of his own. “Oh! The one that’s dating Gyu!”

“Ah yea,” Hani awkwardly responded as she jostled Haeun in her arms.

“Aw! Haeunnie looks so comfy," Dongwoo cooed looking at them. He then frowned. "How come she doesn’t do that do me?”

“Well, I have something you don’t," Hani replied. The two men looked at her in confusion. Hani giggled as Haeun nuzzled into her, demonstrating what she meant. "A chest.”

The two men went "oh" and nodded. Then Woohyun began chuckling and feeling up Dongwoo's chest. “I don’t know. It’s kinda soft, noona,” he teased.

"Yah!"

* * *

The auction was well underway, and Maeri's turn was quickly coming up, but she still didn't find out who the replacement was. And after awhile, she forgot about it and got caught up in the excitement of it all. As stressful as it was to organize these things, Maeri still loved the thrill of an auction. Especially this one. Not only where they auctioning off dates, but to appeal to a larger audience, jewelry, paintings, and even some furniture were up for biddings, all of them had romantic stories attached to them. An engagement ring from the 1940s of a war-torn couple, a series of portraits a man painted of his wife over the course of their marriage, and even a pair of rocking chairs that a couple used to sit at together side by side.

That's not to say that they date auction wasn't exciting. It was. Unfortunately, after a minor bidding war, Hoya lost out to Kwanghee, who seemed to spare no expense at buying back his wife from the other. Hoya then left the auction completely, not being able to stomach seeing the still married couple together. Then, of course, Sungjong's auction was full of surprises. Unsurprisingly, most of his bidders were old enough to be his mother, but they all lost. Myungsoo won the auction for an obscene amount of money, citing that he wanted to use Sungjong as a model. Apparently, Myungsoo was there not for Maeri, and not to find a date, but to find a muse. _Odd place to do that._  

Then it was Maeri's turn.

She walked onto the stage, careful not to trip or stumble in her high heels. She had been wearing them all day to get used to the height, but now that seemed like a poor decision as her arches ached with every step. The auctioneer must have seen her struggle. He took her hand and walked with her to the center of the stage as he announced her, “Now, here we have a lovely piece. This is Yoo Maeri, 30 years-old and with a heart of gold! Spend the night with her at the town’s finest Italian restaurant. While drinking wine, she’s sure to provide some _titillating_ conversation." Maeri still tried to smile through her cringing at that comment. "And she’s not bad to look at either," the auctioneer teased. Maeri looked at him with a amused smile. They had gotten to know each other over the years, as he worked for most of their auctions, and he always loved to tease her. "But beware, she does have a fiancé. However, he’s not here right now, so she’s fair game! Let’s start the bidding at $50.” Now Maeri pouted. $50 was the price of the gift card that would pay for their meal. She was basically being auctioned off for free, and was the lowest starting bid of the night.

Which is probably why several paddles flew into the air. That made Maeri feel better about herself. And her self-esteem only grew as the prices climbed higher and higher. One by one the paddles began to drop out. Maeri searched the crowd to see who as still bidding. Then she saw him. The paddle that was always raised first. It was the probably perverted old man.

 “$450? Really?" the auctioneer gasped in amazement that people were still bidding at this point. He cocked his head. "That’s interesting. Do I have a $475? $475! Are you sure?" he challenged the old man in the audience. The auctioneer placed his hands on his hips and gestured towards Maeri, "She’s engaged, you know?”

“And I’m married,” the old man retorted, earning a laugh from the audience. All except Maeri. Her stomach dropped. She closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down and maintain her pleasant smile. _I'm going to be sold to this old man. He's going to take me, and I'll have to eat with him. And then what? This is all Woohyun's fault. He said he'd be here. He said he'd buy me. And now I'm going to be a concubine of this old lecher!_

“$600.”

That voice didn't sound old at all. Maeri opened her eyes and searched for the paddle in the air. It was in the back of the room, surrounded by larger people. From her angle, she couldn't quite see who it was. _Woohyun? No, it can't be...the replacement?_

“Now you don’t seem so sure about that,” the auctioneer teased.

“$600!” the man said again, his voice more firm.

The auctioneer looked towards the old man, silently asking him if he'd match the bid. The old man waved him off and conceded to defeat. “Sold!" the auctioneer exclaimed. "To the handsome man in the back who looks like he’s just lost his mind. What an exciting end to our auction, everybody!" Everyone began clapping and getting up from their seats. "Oh! What are you waiting for, kid? Come claim your prize! You paid enough for her.”

Maeri watched closely as the crowd parted and her 'date' got up from his seat and began to make his way to the front of the room. “Oh Gyu. It was you,” she said as soon as the other reached her.

Sunggyu climbed up onto the stage, hands in his pockets. “Were you expecting someone else?” he jokingly challenged.

Maeri shook her head. “Uh no. Actually, I don’t know why I didn’t think of you," she admitted with an embarrassed giggle. "Of course Hyun would ask you to help. Thank you so much.”

Sunggyu smiled. “It’s no problem.”

The auctioneer interrupted them, “Come with me, sir. You just need to sign some papers and give us a check before you can start your date.”

“Oh yes, of course," he responded. He then turned to Maeri. "Hold on one moment. I’ll be back.”

Maeri nodded and told him, “I’ll be in the lobby.”

And so she waited in the lobby. After knowing that the replacement was Sunggyu, Maeri felt more at ease. So much more at ease that she was finally taking off those damned high heels and exchanging them for flats. She sat on the steps to the main room with her coat on, heels off, and she was vigorously rubbing her feet, hoping to get the blood stirring back in them again. But then she heard a clicking of a tongue. She raised her head to see the old man again.

“It’s a damn shame,” he muttered, looking her up and down.

A hand then came down onto her shoulder. She looked up to see Sunggyu standing protectively next to her. His eyes were fixed in an intense glare on the old man. And he continued to glare until the man walked away. After the man was out of sight, he lifted his hand from her shoulder. "I don’t like the way he looks at you,” he confessed.

“I don’t either," she agreed. She looked up at him and squeezed the hand near her shoulder. "Thank you for saving me.” Maeri then shoved her feet into her beat-up flats and stood up. She laughed. She was closer to Sunggyu's height with the heels on, but now with the heels off and him being a step above her, she was eye-level with his chest. She suddenly felt like a small child. Sunggyu tilted his head in confusion, but Maeri didn't indulge him. Instead she dug through her purse and pulled out a card. “This is yours," she spoke as she handed it to him. "You can use it on a date later. And don’t worry. Woohyun and I will pay you back later. I don’t think he’ll be too upset at how much you paid, especially after you tell him about the creep." She looked at Sunggyu whose eyes were fixed on the card. She sighed and said, "So, I guess I’ll see you around?” She turned around to leave.

“Wait," Sunggyu called after her, and Maeri stopped and turned around. He scoffed in disbelief, "That’s it? I just paid _$600_ for you. The least you can do for me is buy me a drink.”

Maeri smirked. She should have expected that Sunggyu would want immediate reparations for his empty wallet. “Okay," she gave in. Then she clapped her hands. "Oh! I know just the place!”

* * *

It's getting deeper into the night and the air is growing colder still, and yet Woohyun is outside, bouncing Haeun on his knee. The three of them (well Hani and Dongwoo) decided to stop by and buy some hotteok and coffee to warm up their insides. _Or we could just go inside_ , he could hear Maeri's voice inside of his head say. But there was something about being outside this time of year. It was almost magical with all of the lights, and even the stars seemed brighter. The three of them were sitting at a table. 'Were' because Dongwoo recently had just excused himself to go find a restroom. But up until that point, Woohyun had noticed Dongwoo's shy glances and over-courteous behavior to Hani. He was flirting with her, which made Woohyun partially happy because that meant Boram was becoming just a memory for Dongwoo. But Woohyun was only _partially_ happy. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something about this situation felt wrong. Then he realized it. It was Sunggyu. Sunggyu and Hani were dating, and yet...

“You know, if you weren’t dating Gyu, I’d say to go for that," Woohyun reminded Hani (and in all honesty, Woohyun would have to admit that Dongwoo was a better catch). "Dongwoo is literally the best guy I know.”

“Is that so?" Hani asked while covering her mouth. She was chewing on her bite of hotteok. She nodded as she thought and chewed. And once she swallowed, she spoke again. "Maybe I should…Gyu and I aren’t dating anymore.”

Woohyun stopped bouncing his knee, eliciting a grunt of disapproval from his niece but he didn't care. “What? Why not?”

Hani chewed on her lip, wondering if she should divulge, but she did anyway, “I think you and Maeri wanted it more than we did.”

Woohyun chuckled slightly. He'd been caught. “We kind of did force it, didn’t we?” he admitted, looking up at the other shly.

She smiled and pinched her fingers in the air to emphasize her point, “Just a bit.”

“Well, now that you’re available and so is Dongwoo…” Woohyun began to suggest, but Hani raised a finger in the air to stop him.

“Nam Woohyun! Don’t force it,” she gently reprimanded him.

Woohyun shrugged and looked back down at his niece, who was slowly nodding off. “I was only suggesting,” he spoke lowly.

“Well, I suggest that you mind your own business," Hani twisted his words. "I can handle my own love life.”

“Are you sure about that?" Woohyun challenged. "I can read people really well. Just let me…” This time he was interrupted from disgruntled whimpers coming from Haeun. And he could feel his knee grow damp. _Shit, well it's actually not quite that but_...

“Concentrate on your niece instead. She needs a diaper change," Hani suggested. She leaned over and sniffed. She immediately retracted and covered her nose. "Ew! How can something so cute smell so bad?”

“Noona…I’m not very good at it. I bet that you’ll do a much better job,” Woohyun tried to use the most helpless voice he could muster and he even batted his eyelashes at the other.

Hani only grinned and retorted, “Then it sounds like you need the practice.”

* * *

“This is nice," Sunggyu said as he looked around the drinking tent. It was the one where Maeri and Dongwoo came to rescue their drunken 'husbands,' but Maeri doubted whether Sunggyu would remember that. And to be honest, that was partially the reason why she brought him there, to see if he could remember any of the craziness that was that night. _Seems not_. "It was a good idea to come here.”

“You’re a cheap date,” Maeri joked. It was true. In comparison to the $600 Sunggyu had spent, Maeri only paid around $20. 

“And a handsome one too,” Sunggyu retorted and then proceeded to stuff his mouth with the fishcakes.

Maeri nodded slightly as she looked over the other. She had to admit, Sunggyu cleaned up nicely. Not that he didn't look nicely otherwise, but this night he just looked better. He was in a nice suit and his hair was styled. His bangs were lifted from his face, which made the other seem all the more expressive (his eyebrows did weird things). “I do like your hair like that," she confessed and gestured to how it was styled. "You should do it more often. You can see your face now." Then she noticed the smile widening on the other's face and she grew hot. "But don’t get cocky. Woohyun’s more handsome.” It was weird to compliment a guy who wasn't her fiance, right?

Sunggyu, however, wouldn't let it drop, especially after the comparison. “But I have more charisma," he argued. Maeri shook her head. Sunggyu frowned. "I can sing better, right?”

“Nope," Maeri fought back. "He’s really good.”

“But I sing with more feeling, more soul," Sunggyu countered, placing a hand over his heart. Maeri shook her head again this time, more violently, causing her hair to fall in front of her face. "Aish! You just like Woohyun more,” he cursed, falling back into his chair.

“No," Maeri denied. Sunggyu raised his head and looked at her expectantly. "I like him _a lot_ more,” she teased, finding slight joy in his fallen face. She then turned her attention back to the fishcake soup in front of her, which was proving difficult to eat with one hand in her coat pocket and hair fallen in front of her face. She tried to blow it out of the way, but it only kept falling right back into place. Then she felt fingers graze her cheek. After seeing her struggle, Sunggyu had leaned over the table and tucked the hair behind her ear for her.“Oh, thank you,” she mumbled and looked back down at her soup. It was a cold night, but she was beginning to feel warm. _It must be the steam from the soup._

“Maeri, do you love him?” Sunggyu suddenly asked.

Maeri looked at him curiously before answering. “Woohyun? Of course!” _Isn't it obvious?_

“How?” Not how much or how so, but just how. How was she supposed to answer that? Did she love Woohyun? Without a doubt. He was her closest friend, her confidant, the only person she could count on for anything at anytime. And not only that, but when she wasn’t with Woohyun, Maeri felt incomplete, like a twin missing their other half. It didn’t feel right. But what kind of love was that? Would it be the answer he was looking for? And why did it even matter?

“With my whole heart," she finally answered. Maeri didn't like feeling like this, like she was being interrogated, so she turned the tables, "But what about you? Oh! Do you think you’re falling for Unnie? Is  that why you’re asking?”

“No," Sunggyu replied softly while shaking his head. "We’re actually…not dating anymore," he confessed and then resumed eating.

“B-but you guys seemed so perfect together!” Maeri stammered in shock. She really thought the relationship would work out. Hani was nice. Sunggyu was nice. Shouldn't they get along?

“Like you and Woohyun?" Sunggyu challenged, both of his eyebrows arched high on his forehead. Maeri nodded slowly, still trying to absorb this new information. Sunggyu chuckled slightly and then continued, "Hani and I want to see other people. It was mutual.”

_Hani too_? Maeri felt as if the couple in a drama that she was rooting for didn't end up together. She really thought Sunggyu would've been Hani's prince, and she could finally get her fairy tale ending. Maeri fixed her gaze on the man in front of her, who was ignoring her and was eating. Maeri had a sneaking suspicion that it was all his fault. Then it hit her. She sat back in her seat and smirked. “Oh, you’re still hung up on that girl from before!”

“Huh?” Sunggyu looked up in surprise.

She had him. She crossed her arms over her chest. “The one you told me about months ago at my housewarming party. You still like her,” she declared.

Sunggyu coughed and looked away. “I guess you could say that,” he grumbled.

“Eh, you should forget about her," Maeri suggested, resting her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. "There’s a lot of girls out there. Better ones.”

He chuckled, but it died in his throat as he continued talking, “But she’s kind of…hard…to forget.”

Maeri noticed only half-way what she was doing. She cleared her throat and continued to pick the grain of rice from Sunggyu's cheek. “Sorry. You had some rice there," her apology was quiet as she flicked the grain away. She watched it fall onto the floor. "So since Unnie didn’t work out," she muttered. Then she had a stroke of brilliance. She met his gaze again. "Jiminnie is still single!”

“Yah!” Sunggyu seemed genuinely shocked and offended by that notion.

Maeri pouted and returned to her food, grumbling, “She has a great personality. Y’all are just too shallow.”

* * *

After the hotteok and the coffee, Hani decided to take her leave. She waved goodbye to the boys and gave Haeun one last squeeze. When she was out of sight, Dongwoo turned to Woohyun and shook his head. He then left the other as he began to walk down the streets. Woohyun caught up to him, pushing the stroller. “What?” he questioned.

“Nothing. It’s just that," Dongwoo paused briefly as he turned his neck back around to look behind them. Woohyun followed his gaze but no one was there. "I didn’t think Hani-ssi would be like that," he ended.

_Oh, he's smitten_. Woohyun nudged him with his shoulder. “She’s great, isn’t she? I hope she finds someone soon.”

“I think she already did,” Dongwoo commented offhandedly.

Woohyun stopped in his tracks. “What? You??" Woohyun asked in disbelied. Dongwoo shrugged. "Sorry to break it to you, Woo, but she’s not interested.” He resumed walking back home, this time leaving Dongwoo behind.

“Why not?”

* * *

“Okay, I can’t take it anymore," Maeri yelped in frustration as she and Sunggyu were walking back from the tent. "I hate secrets! Who’s the girl? The one you like. Tell me. Tell me! Please!” she begged, jumping around him. And Sunggyu found it very amusing how desperately she wanted to know, but after her 15th 'please' it seemed futile. So Maeri was about to give up, pouting at she kicked the ground beneath her feet, but then she got her answer.

“You.”

Maeri looked up, still seeing that amused smile on his face. _He's_ _teasing_ _me_. She scoffed and hit him in the arm. “Yah! Stop joking! I really want to know,” she yelled.

His smile only grew wider as he laughed, “I’m not joking.”

“Then why are you smiling like that?” she challenged, jutting out her chin.

“It’s because I like you, idiot! And you’re being ridiculous!" he fought back. Maeri just rolled her eyes and stomped ahead of him. "What? I’m serious,” he called out to her.

Maeri spun around to face him but was still walking away. “Riiiiiiight," she said in a mocking tone. "Fine, don’t tell me.”

The smile finally fled his face. “I am being serious," he said sternly. "I can prove it.”

“Tsk!" Maeri scoffed. "I like to see you try.” She was egging him on now, trying to call his bluff.

“Then come over here,” he ordered, stopping where he was.

And Maeri stopped too. “No you come over here,” she demanded.

“Fine,” he spoke lowly and started to approach her.

But there was something about his serious expression that was scary Maeri, deeply. “Gyu," she warned, wanting him to stop. But he kept coming. She took a step back, when he almost reached her. "Gyu, what are you…" The phone rang in her pocket as soon as Sunggyu was in front of her again. She pulled it from her coat pocket to see that it was Woohyun. She immediately pressed the phone to her ear and answered it. "Oh sweetie! It’s you!” she spoke a little too loudly, but Sunggyu got the message and backed away. He then waved goodbye and left, putting his hands into is pockets.

“It’s safe to come home now," Woohyun said on the other side of the line. Maeri had barely registered it. "I put Haeunnie and Dongwoo to sleep, so no more crying babies.” Her fiance laughed at his own poor joke.

Maeri shook her head, clearing it. “Oh is that so?" she asked. She then began to make her own way home. "You know, I wasn’t trying to avoid the baby.”

“I know. You’re just giving Sunggyu his money’s worth. He already texted me the price. Apparently, I have a very expensive wife,” Woohyun teased.

Maeri played along. “At least someone knows how much I’m worth,” she said in a semi-hurt voice.

“Yea, that creepy old man,” Woohyun joked.

“Oh, Sunggyu told you about that too?” she asked. Her heart began to feel uneasy again.

“Eung. Thank him for me, Honey, and come on home," he spoke through a yawn. "I’m getting sleepy.”

Maeri smiled and she picked up the pace of her step. “You know you can always go to sleep without me,” she retorted.

“Nu uh, not when it’s my night to be the little spoon," he cutely argued. "I know how your mind works, Yoo Maeri. I want my nice fluffy arm pillow.”

“Tsk," Maeri grunted into the phone. "Your pillow will be home in 10 minutes. Do you think you can last that long, Hyun?”

“Eung.”

* * *

When Maeri returned home, she found Dongwoo on the couch and Haeun in a portable crib in her bedroom, both fast asleep. She also found Woohyun already passed out in the bed, sprawled out on both sides. Maeri peered into the crib and spoke to her soon-to-be niece, "Did you tire him out? Hehe, good girl." She then slowly got ready for bed. She didn't know why, but she was more distracted than usual. She did her skincare routine out of order and accidentally brushed her teeth twice. But it was a long day, so she blamed it on that.

Then when she was about to climb into bed, she gently pushed Woohyun over to his side before laying down. She looked at Woohyun's sleeping and drooling face. With all of that drool, it was probably best if she didn't kiss him goodnight. Then a light filled her room. It was coming from her phone. She flipped over onto her side and read the new message she recieved. It was from Sunggyu.

"If I took things too far tonight, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

Maeri puffed out her cheeks and let out a deep breath. _It’s okay. It was a joke,_  she thought. She placed the phone back on her nightstand and laid back down on her bed, placing a hand on her heart.  _It was a joke. It was a joke_ , she told herself over and over again. But why didn’t Maeri’s heart feel more at ease.


	20. "You're not even trying!"

Maeri watched the ball carefully as it slowly rolled right by her foot. She groaned and bent down to pick the soccer ball up, feeling the clamminess of the goalie gloves stick to her hands as she cradled the ball. But she held it only for a second before throwing it like a rocket directly at Woohyun's stomach, who recoiled at the sudden hit but still caught the ball. "You're not even trying!" Maeri yelled in frustration. "How am I supposed to get better if you don't challenge me?" She watched Woohyun as he shrugged and dropped the ball near his feet. She gnashed her teeth at the sight, feeling even more aggravated at his carelessness. But for Maeri, this was a big deal. She had never played goalie before, and theirs had injured her wrist and need to sit out for just one game. And so Maeri stepped up to fill the empty spot on the field (anything was better than sitting on the bench and waiting anxiously in anticipation to get called back into the game. And this way she can stay on the field for the entire game).

"I don't know why you're taking this so seriously," Woohyun remarked with his eyes fixed on the ball. He began dribbling it in between his feet. Okay, so yes he did know why. She was Yoo Maeri, and she wouldn't be Yoo Maeri if she didn't throw herself 100% into everything. _But she needs to chill out_ , Woohyun thought. "Look, I know that your goalie is injured and can't play, but you're playing the worst team in the league tomorrow. Your defenders will be lucky if they see any action." He raised his gaze only to see Maeri already in position, in a squat on her toes with hand beckoning at him.

"Just bring it, okay?" she dismissed him, her eyes were trained on the ball.

Woohyun cocked an eyebrow. "You really want me to? I'm the best striker on the team," he asked. Maeri nodded, still concentrating on the ball. Woohyun chuckled a bit to himself as he took a few steps back, readying his approach. "Alright, you asked for it," he said and then ran up to the ball, smacking his laces perfectly against it. Then he watched as the ball sailed quickly through the air.

And smacked Maeri perfectly in the face.

"Oh shit!" Woohyun cursed as he ran up to her, carefully removing the hands that were covering her face. "You okay?"

Maeri gently dabbed underneath her nose. _Good. There's no blood_ , she sighed to herself in relief at the sight of a clean glove. Save for the throbbing and uncontrollable urge to sneeze, Maeri judged that she was fine. That the feeling would pass soon enough. So after sneezing a few times, she pushed Woohyun away. "Again," she commanded, her voice now nasal.

Woohyun looked at her with wide eyes for a second. "You want me to hit you again?!"

"No," Maeri responded with a slight laugh, wiping her nose again. "Shoot the ball again and don't hold back, okay? I'm fine. So don't worry. Just shoot."

Woohyun cocked his head as he placed the ball down on the ground again. Yoo Maeri was infallible.

* * *

Or at least she was then, but today, over a decade later Maeri felt as if she had gotten hit in the head by a dozen of soccer balls, or at least she would have preferred it. Today was open appraisal day at the auction house, which meant hoards of people coming in with junk that they swear to be family heirlooms and are disappointed and argumentative when the appraisers say otherwise. Right now, a middle-aged woman was angrily arguing and practically spitting in Maeri's face. "This painting was done by my great-grandfather. He's a very well respected artist," she shouted.

 _Yes, he was probably the best artist in his village, but that's not worth much_ , Maeri bit the words back on her tongue and refrained from wiping the spittle from her face lest she offend the old woman. "I'm sorry, m'am. I've never heard of this artist before, nor do we have a demand for this kind of painting," she explained, pushing the artwork back across the counter.  _We have 5 more in ink drawings the back, better done and by actual artists, and even those are collecting dust_ , she refrained again. And she kept her smile, made it wider until it physically hurt. She took in a deep breath. _I won't let this get to me today_.

The old lady eyed her up and down. "I want to speak to the expert," she declared.

Maeri bit the insides of her cheek and smiled again. "I am one," she spoke calmly. "I have a degree in decorative arts and a certificate for appraisals, if you would like to see it." She, unfortunately, had to show her certificate before to doubting costumers.

"But not a degree in paintings," the woman pointed out.

Maeri sighed. "Technically no," she admitted. Her degree was more encompassing than one in just paintings. But Maeri knew that telling the customer that would do little to soothe her growing rage. "But I assure you that I have a lot of experience..."

"I would like to talk with the expert in paintings," she cut Maeri off.

Maeri's eyes darted over towards Sora who was swamped in a sea of people herself. Maeri had meant to help her out, but instead she'd be sending an aggravated costumer to her friend. Guilt began to wash over her. _Some help I am_. Her finger's flew to her forehead, wanting to rub away the headache that was quickly forming, but then she felt the eyes of the old lady burning through her. She dropped her hand and turned towards the customer. "She's just over there," she gestured over to Sora. The woman, without another word, picked up the ink drawing and went across the room. Maeri wanted to feel relieved but she wasn't off the hook yet. A man with a goofy smile and a broken antique toy was next in line, and she'll have to deliever the sad news that his once valuable possession in now worthless because of the condition. That news never rested well either.

But still she put on a smile and spoke in a friendly tone, "Next."

* * *

Woohyun looked down at the baby in his arms. Gently, his fingers brushed against Haeun's tiny nose. It was the same as his, and the same as his brother's as well. The unmistakable Nam nose, it must be genetically dominant. And Woohyun caught himself wondering if his own child would have it too, and maybe his sharp eyes, thick hair, or big lips. What features would he gift to the child? And what would be in the baby that would be distinctively Maeri?

Yes, he knew of Maeri's claim that she disliked babies, and yet...And yet she still helped to raise Jonghyun from infancy when she was younger. Woohyun had engraved in his memory the mother-like smile that she wore whenever she held Jonghyun and the slight sadness in her eyes whenever Jonghyun had reached a milestone in life and he was growing up quickly before their very eyes. Before Woohyun had wondered if Maeri disliked babies because she felt as if she already raised one in Jonghyun, but last night seemed to prove that theory wrong.

In the middle of the night, Haeun cried, probably scared after waking up in an unfamiliar environment. But before Woohyun could wake up and realize what was going on, he felt the bed shift and saw Maeri rolling out and getting up onto her feet. She shuffled over to the crib, and resting her hands on the rails, she peered inside, watching the crying infant for one moment, then two. Woohyun sat up in bed, keeping a close eye on his friend. He was curious to see what she would do next. To be quite honest, Woohyun had expected her to mildly cuss out the baby for waking her up and pass on Haeun to her uncle. But then she reached down into the crib, picked up the child, and rocked her delicately in her arms while she cooed. And then the motherly smile and affection that she used to show Jonghyun, shone brightly in the scant light of the dark room. Woohyun watched her with a grin growing on his face.

"What are you smiling at?" Maeri mumbled as she looked over at her friend. She narrowed her eyes, probably already deciding that her fiancé was crazy.

"You," Woohyun answered immediately back. Maeri scoffed and turned her attention back to the baby.

"Yah," she whispered to the child, tapping Haeun's nose with the tip of her finger. "I hope you missed out on the Nam crazy genes. You're too pretty to be crazy." Woohyun felt his grin widen, scarcely believing what he'd just heard. He really might just be crazy because he'd just heard Maeri call a baby "pretty," which was impossible. But then his face fell as he saw Maeri lay the baby back down in the crib. The tender moment was already over. His fiancée was already crawling back into bed, about to fall asleep like nothing extraordinary had just happened. But it did, and Woohyun couldn't forget it. 

But like that moment had ended, Haeun's time with her uncle had also come to an end. Boohyun had come to their apartment to pick his daughter up, and after loading up the car with her things, Woohyun handed the child over back to her father. "Here she is. Is everything, okay?" he asked, carefully watching how Haeun grabbed at her father's face, giggling with glee.

Boohyun laughed and pulled his face away from Haeun's tiny hands. "I feel like that's what I should be asking," he responded in a teasing tone. "Rough night?"

Woohyun yawned as his brother asked the question. It honestly was a bit rough. He didn't sleep well for fear of something happening to Haeun in the middle of the night. But even though he slept little, it wasn't like he'd just come back from a funeral. "Not as rough as yours," he spoke through a yawn.

"It was a bit rough," Boohyun admitted. "But my wife is fine. She'll be even better once she get Haeunnie back in her arms." The father cooed at his child, brushing his nose against her round cheek. "She didn't handle the separation well."

Woohyun scoffed at his brother. It seemed like the elder didn't handle the night apart from his daughter well either. "Neither did Haeunnie," Woohyun added as he ran his fingers through Haeun's thin hair.

"Thanks for doing this. I owe you," Boohyun promised as he pulled Haeun away from her uncle and began to place her into the carseat. Woohyun frowned and put his hand into his pocket it, digging it deeply inside. He nodded scarcely to his brother, just to acknowledge that he heard him. After strapping his daughter into the carseat, Boohyun turned his attention back to his disgruntled brother. "So how was Maeri with the baby? I would've paid money to see her change a diaper."

"She did help to raise Jonghyun, you know," Woohyun reminded the other, and Boohyun nodded. But then the younger sighed as he continued, "But she was no help at all. She was on a date. For charity," he quickly added the last part when Boohyun furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

The elder slapped his head with his hand. "Oh right! The charity auction was last night," he grumbled as he dragged his hand down his face. He then look at his little brother apologetically. "Sorry to ruin it for you."

"It's okay," Woohyun assured him. "Besides Dongwoo and I had fun with Haeunnie."

"If only Dongwoo was a girl..." Boohyun mused.

Woohyun rolled his eyes. This wasn't the first time that his brother had said that (or anyone), but at least Woohyun managed to be good humored about it rather than irritated. "She'd be a lot better than Maeri, that's for sure," he finished his brother's musing with a joke. "She still claims not to like babies."

"Well, soon that might all change. It's always different when it's your own kid," Boohyun commented as he cast a glance back to his own child who was sleeping in her carseat. "Really different," he muttered below his breath with a faint smile on his face. He snorted and then faced his brother again. "Thanks for taking care of her again."

"Right. No problem," Woohyun said as he waved goodbye to his brother and headed back inside his building.

 _Soon that might all change...soon_. He repeated 'soon' over and over again in his head as he entered the elevator and leaned against the back wall. The smile returned to his face. Last night, he couldn't forget. He'd caught a glimpse of Maeri as a mother, a glimpse of their near future together. He chuckled to himself as the elevator doors opened wide to his floor. Why couldn't 'soon' be tonight?

* * *

 _If I took things too far tonight, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable_.

Maeri read that text over and over again as she sat in the break room gnawing on her lunch. In all honesty, Sunggyu _had_ taken it too far, so far that the line of decency was just a speck to him (or was Maeri overreacting?). But it was one other thing bothering her today, rubbing her nerves raw and pushing her closer and closer to the edge.

"Sungjong-ah, you said that there's half-truths in jokes," she spoke to her coworker who was sitting in the seat across from her at the table. She finally put down the phone, a little too hard. The 'thud' when it hit resounded throughout the small room, but it didn't scare the maknae of the auction house. Sungjong raised an eyebrow as he looked at the woman curiously. It was obvious to anybody. Maeri was frustrated right now, and it was more than a rough day at work.

"Sometimes, why?" Sungjong responded slowly and then took a long drink from his glass. He was cautious to not set Maeri off because she appeared to be a bomb with her fuse lit.

Maeri leaned forward eagerly, almost knocking over her bowl of food. Her brow was creased with worry, and her eyes were darting all over the younger. "So it's sometimes, right? And not all of the time?" she asked hurriedly, as if she needed the answer right now. "Right?" she pressed Sungjong again when he hadn't answered in the second's time that she'd given him to respond.

Sungjong suddenly placed his forefinger into one of the deep creases forming in between her eyebrows. The wrinkles smoothed out, as Maeri was shifting from concerned to confused, and Sungjong pushed his finger forward until Maeri's head was pushed back. The woman cursed under her breath and frowned as she rubbed where Sungjong's finger had dug into her forehead. But just like when she had slammed her phone against the table, Sungjong remained unflinching. "Noona, what is this really about?" he asked. A sly smile graced his face. "And you have to tell me, remember? I still have questions left."

Maeri took in a deep breath and held her tongue. Yes, that was right. She'd nearly forgotten. Sungjong was still allowed to ask personal questions, and she was obligated to answer them. But while he could ask about anything, the amount was limited. And the boy was slowly using them all up. Maeri let out her breath, regaining control over herself. If she was smart, she could put an end to this game.

 _5..._ "Sunggyu...ssi," she added the formal address as an afterthought. It sounded awkward rolling off her tongue, but the whole situation was. "He said he liked me, but he didn't seem serious at the time. We were joking, and he just, I don't know, took it too far." It had to be a joke. She needed it to be a joke.

"So you want to know if he's telling the truth?" Sungjong summarized. He leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. Maeri nodded, but Sungjong shook his head in response. "I don't know Sunggyu-ssi very well, so I can't be sure," he answered bluntly. Maeri looked down at the phone still laying face down on the table. Her hand next to the phone curled in a fist. "You should ask him."

Maeri snapped up her head. "What?! No! Why?" she protested.

"Why are you reacting like that?" Sungjong argued and his fingers were rapping quickly against the table. He was slowly losing his patience with the woman, which only worked to her advantage. 

 _4_ , Maeri kept the countdown going. _Okay that one was a little cheap_. She titled her head, acting oblivious. "Like what?" Or maybe she wasn't really 'acting.' She honestly had no idea what the other was getting at.

"You're over-reacting!" Sungjong pointed out, raising his voice. "You acted like I asked you kill someone, not talk to them." He then suddenly leaned forward, narrowing his eyes on her. "Are you afraid of talking to him?" he challenged.

Maeri dropped her gaze as she traced a '3' on the table with her finger. She rest her cheek against her other hand as she continued to make random patterns onto the table with the other. After a few seconds of contemplation and silence, Maeri finally let out a soft reply, "Okay so I did overreact, and...maybe...maybe I'm just _a little_ afraid." She raised her gaze up to the other. "Just a little," she emphasized.

"Why?"

 _2, getting closer_...Maeri sat up straight and folded her hands in her lap. "Because we're all supposed to be friends. Him, me, Woohyun, and Hani-unnie," she mumbled as she twidled her thumbs. They were supposed to be like a car, with four wheels happily and unanimously rotating as they rolled down the path of life. No one would ever feel like the third wheel to her and Woohyun. They were supposed to be happy. But it seemed like they hit a bump and got a flat. Maeri shut her eyes. "But that's all starting to fall apart. Unnie and him broke up. And now _this_."

"Do you think he likes you?"

Maeri's head shot up as she stared at the other in disbelief. "Huh?"

"Do _you..._ " Sungjong pointed at Maeri, emphasizing his words. "...think he likes you?"

Maeri let out a deep sigh. _Last one_. "I don't know." And she honestly didn't know. She didn't have a single clue. But she did know one thing, "But he can't. Or shouldn't...I'm with Woohyun."

"Noona," Sungjong dropped his voice. He paused to cast a glance over towards the door, making sure that nosy Sora hadn't snuck in during their conversation. She hadn't. So he continued to whisper lowly. He himself felt as if he was crossing the boundless line that Maeri had set for him when their game had started. "Do you want Sunggyu-hyung to like you? Do you like him?"

Maeri bolted upright, standing up on her feet. Sungjong was finally startled. His eyes grew larger and round. His lips were twitching, ready to stammer out apologies. But then, Maeri smiled. It was obviously forced, but it wasn't menacing in the slightest. She reached over and lightly tapped her knuckles against his head. "Ddaeng, you're out of questions," Maeri spoke in as light of a tone as she could muster.

But it wasn't like she had an answer for that question. She didn't know herself. And that's what bothered her so much.

* * *

And after such a frustrating and long day, Maeri just wanted to go home and mindlessly watch television, maybe taking a nap on the couch (and subsequently on a bit of her fiancé as well). In short, she just wanted to relax and do absolutely nothing. And unfortunately, Woohyun had other plans, which involved a lot of moving.

As soon as she sat down, Woohyun stuck to her side, which wasn't unusual. They would often do this to each other, acting as if they were sharing a seat instead of an entire couch. But what _was_ unusual was what he did next. His arm circled around Maeri's waist, drawing her in even closer, suffocatingly close for Maeri at this moment. Woohyun then placed his head within the crook of her neck. Slowly he turned his head and began pressing kisses against the side of her neck. Maeri gasped. Woohyun had misinterpreted it as a gasp in pleasant surprise, and he raised his head to press a hard kiss onto her parted lips, trying to coax her as best he could.

But Maeri wasn't feeling pliant today. She had bent her will for more than enough people, and so she wasn't about to give into the other. Instead, she tried to push him away as best she could. However, he was determined to stay stuck onto her side like a thorn. "Woohyun," she whined as she wiggled in his tight grasp. "I've had people in my face all day, so can you not?

Woohyun huffed. He had heard all about Maeri's day over dinner, and Maeri could never hide her irritation well. But why was she becoming even _more_ agitated? This was supposed to be relaxing and soothing...pleasurable! That was what he had intended. However, even her ears were growing red and hot. Being so close, he could feel their heat beating on his face (as well as her hits to his chest). _Maybe she's nervous?_ he thought as he recalled their jitters from the time before. So he tried to diffuse the situation with a joke, "But my face is different. It's better."

"It's annoying," she retorted. Maeri also finally gave up her struggle and remained still, with her arms across her chest and her eyes fixed on the television screen across from them.

Now Woohyun's nerves were wearing thin. "Really?! _I'm_ being annoying?" he fought back. 

Maeri faced him again. "Yes," she replied curtly, eyes cutting through him like daggers. "I just want to _relax_."

Woohyun let out a deep breath and bit his tongue until he could taste blood in his mouth. He knew that tone of hers. He hated it. Maeri often bottled things up inside until she finally exploded all over the place after one final trigger. And _that tone_ was like the ticking of a time bomb. But after knowing her for over a decade, Woohyun maybe had learned how to diffuse this bomb with careful fingers. "You want to relax?" he asked as he cracked his knuckles, warming up his hands. "Then how about this?" He brought his hands to her shoulders and began massaging them. But the tension did not go away. Maeri raised her shoulders even higher, hunching her back.

"Hyun!" she cried. Once again she pushed her fiancé off of her. "What's gotten into you? Why are you acting so weird?" she demanded. Her eyes were wild, a raging fire lit behind them. The bomb had detonated. 

The trigger must've set off a chain of explosions because even Woohyun had had enough. "Weird? Weird?!" he repeated with a strangled laugh and a twitching lip. "Maybe I'm weird for thinking that this is what couples do."

Maeri huffed and closed her eyes. "Please, Woohyun, can we _please_ not get into it right now?" she begged.

"Get into what?" Woohyun fought back, waving his hands in the air. Maeri opened her eyes again and stared at him as if he should already know. "Get into what?" he repeated more loudly. "Because we never get into _it_! You're not even trying!"

"I'm sorry if I don't want to have sex..."

Woohyun cut her off, "It's not about that!" And it really wasn't about intimacy, not anymore. It had stopped being about that the moment Maeri pushed him away for the second time. Now it was about everything, every little doubt that Woohyun ever had about them, every single thing that annoyed and irritated him. And at the center of everything was Maeri. Even the way she way looking at him right now, in disbelief, as if Woohyun didn't have more worries than just sex, like an animal, it irritated the Hell out of him. "It's not," he insisted. "You don't try at making this...us work!"

Maeri scoffed in disbelief and threw her head back. "Oh, and like you try _so_ hard," she retorted.

"I do!"

"When?" she challenged.

"Now. Yesterday. Everyday!" Woohyun exclaimed, his voice raising higher after each word until he was shouting.

"Yesterday?" Maeri picked that one out. "You weren't even there!"

"I had to look after my niece," he excused himself. What was he supposed to do? Turn his brother down and turn his niece, his family way? His family...that's when Woohyun realized that it wasn't really what he was supposed to do, but what Maeri should have done. It wasn't just _his_ family anymore. " _Our_ niece!" he corrected himself. He then pointed a finger at the other, accusingly. " _You_ should've been there to help."

There it was, guilt. The guilt on Maeri's face was all the evidence that Woohyun needed to prove that he was right. However, she wasn't ready to accept the entire blame herself. "If you needed help, you should've just asked!" she argued.

"I shouldn't have to ask! We're family," he retorted. It should've been her natural response, just like when she had gotten up the night before after Haeun cried. _And you should want to spend time with me,_ Woohyun couldn't help but to think that as well. "We're family, and you shouldn't have stayed at the auction last night," although his voice had dropped lower to a normal register, it still seemed to cut through Maeri harder than anything else he had said, probably because it was paired with hurt eyes.

"I...I didn't have a choice," she stammered lowly. She couldn't even look the other in the eye. 

Woohyun scoffed. "I bet you didn't even ask your boss if you could leave," he guessed. Once again, Maeri's actions gave him all the answer that he needed: she looked the other way. "I thought so," Woohyun muttered as he got up from the couch. "I'm going to bed. Don't follow me," he demanded as he slunk off into the bedroom and slammed the door close.

Once the door shut, Maeri mimicked the other, "Don't follow me." She narrowed her eyes on the closed door. "What am I supposed to do? Sleep here tonight?" she asked the door with a sneer on her lips. It gave no answer. "Fine!" she huffed as she flung herself onto the couch, spreading herself as much as she could. It was rare that she'd ever have the couch to herself since she'd moved in with Woohyun, and she was going to enjoy it as much as she could. "This nice," she muttered, trying to convince herself. "I finally have the couch to myself and I can watch whatever I want." Maeri grabbed the remote and immediately flipped to her favorite channel. It was playing a documentary about a solved murder. She watched it in silence, complete silence. There wasn't even a peep coming from the bedroom. It was as if she was in the apartment entirely alone. Maeri wiped her eyes as she continued to watch the documentary. "I bet the husband did it. He murdered his wife.The husband is _always_  to blame," she muttered, finally breaking the chilling silence in the apartment.

Except she knew that in her situation it wasn't the husband's fault. Maeri was the guilty party. She was guilty of everything.

* * *

Maeri must've fallen asleep like that on the couch, unwashed and still in her work clothes, because she woke up that way. The television was still on, but it wasn't the channel she'd left it on. The news was playing. It must've been reporting a car accident because on the screen there was a tattered shell of a car. And as Maeri was watching, the car suddenly combusted, bursting into flames. She yelped in shock, her heart was racing in her chest, wildly. Firefighters rushed onto the scene, trying to fight the raging fire, and losing. The flames only rose higher and higher until it took over the whole screen.

The newscaster's voice finally appeared, narrating the events: "There was an accident tonight in the downtown area. Help on the scene tried the best they could, but the gas tank in the vehicle had caught on fire, causing an explosion. There were no survivors. The victim appears to be a man in his 20s or 30s, but as the body was so disfigured by the flames, it is difficult to tell who it is at this time. I'm Oh Hani, reporting the evening news."

Maeri turned off the television with a shaky hand and then raced off into the bedroom. The bedsheets were rumpled and empty. He wasn't there. She ran into the bathroom and flipped on the light. Save for Fish Woohyun, swimming in their bathtub, no one was there. Maeri dragged her feet back into to living room. She was alone, completely alone.

But not for long. There was a knock at the door. Sunggyu was there, dressed in a police officer's uniform and with a pitiful look on his face. "We did all we could, but we couldn't save him," his voice was shaking, as was his hand as he handed over a burnt jacket. Woohyun had been wearing it when he left, Maeri could recall it clearly. "Maeri, Woohyun is gone."

"N-no!" Maeri objected, clinging the jacket tightly to her chest. She fell onto her knees right then as she buried her face in the jacket. Even though it was badly burned and smelt of ash and gasoline, it still smelled like him. "He can't be gone. He can't be!" She raised her head again as she yelled, ready to curse out the officer, but Sunggyu was gone. Her parents were standing in front of her now along with Jonghyun.

Her mother knelt down next to her and took her daughter's cheeks in her hands. "Maeri, you have to pull yourself together," she urged her. "You have to be strong for the baby."

"What ba—" Maeri voice was cut off by a shrill cry coming from the bedroom.

She jolted upright. Her neck was stiff, and her head was aching. Her heart was still racing from the dream that she'd just woken up from. _It was just a dream, just a dream_ , she reassured herself, but her heart wouldn't slow down. There was still a cry, ringing out in the room. It was coming from a show on the television. She'd left the television on. That part of her dream was true, but the rest of it wasn't...right?

As ridiculous and unrealistic the dream had been, the emotions that she'd felt were real. Those emotions, she couldn't just shake them off with ration or reason. So while the dream was ridiculous and unrealistic, to Maeri, it was ridiculous and unreal to not have Woohyun by her side. He'd always been there, but tonight, she'd pushed him away, twice. But she wouldn't push him away this time. And her heart wouldn't rest until she saw his face again, saw that he was, indeed, alive.

So after turning off the television, Maeri violated Woohyun's demand and followed him into the bedroom. Once she opened the door, she breathed a sigh of relief. Woohyun was alive and laying diagonally across the bed, covering both sides of the bed, sleeping. Maeri couldn't care less that he left her no room on the bed. She'd sleep on the couch tonight, if she had to. But there was one thing that she wanted to do before going back to sleep.

"Woohyun-ah...Hyun-ah," she called out to him in a low voice, gently shaking him awake. Woohyun easily woke up. He must've just fallen asleep. Maeri spoke before Woohyun could throw her out, "I'm sorry. You're right. I should've asked if I could leave."

He looked her up and down, assessing the situation. He saw the distress all over Maeri's face and sat up. "It's okay," he replied. "You should've stayed. It was your job." He then reached out and grabbed her hand. "But are you okay?"

Maeri shook her head. "I had a weird dream...You were gone and..." she couldn't bring herself to finish telling him. All she wanted to do right now was to forget about the stupid dream, to forget about the fight, and for the two of them to move along side-by-side like they've always had.

And Woohyun was about to make that 'side-by-side' literal. Still holding her hand, he gently tugged on it, coaxing her to sit down with him. This time, she did so willingly. And this time, she was the one to wrap her arms around the other in a tight embrace. Woohyun returned the hug, patting her on the head. "I'm here now. I'm here," he whispered, and she only clung on tighter to him. As if she was afraid that he'd disappear. Woohyun sighed. He'd always thought that she didn't care. But seeing how this dream was eating at her, he was dead wrong.

_Maybe we both need to try harder._


	21. "I need you" (age 17)

Almost everything about Kim Sunggyu's upbringing was old-fashioned, even down to the aged estate he lived in with his family and the archaic code of morals that his family abided by. And Sunggyu wasn't necessarily a rebel. He was just a product of his own age, and that progressive age rebelled against his traditional family.

He also loved music. His parents used to take advantage of it, even providing lessons for the piano and even the geomungo. However, as he grew older, Sunggyu began to lose interest in classical and traditional music, but his love for music did not fade. Instead it grew into an obsession ever since he discovered rock. He loved it more than sleep and spent several nights awake, either listening to it or practicing on the guitar that he borrowed from his classmate. He also loved it more than his schoolwork, and his ranking at his school dropped several positions, which didn't make his parents happy at all. They had a dream for Sunggyu, to become a professor at a university, a nice, respectable, and steady job.

But Sunggyu had a dream of his own, to become a musician of a rock band, living from paycheck to paycheck rather than a steady salary...until he hit it big, which he was confident that he would do. It was a baseless confidence, but it was one that drove him towards his goal, and subsequently out of his house.

And so, at the fresh age of 17, Kim Sunggyu ran away from home. He went to Seoul, the big city, to pursue his dream. He had several auditions lined up, a room at a hostel, and that baseless confidence that assured him that everything would turn out for the best. He only had enough funds to last a month, but he wagered that a month would be more than enough time. No one else at his school matched his passion and knowledge about music. He had expected that to hold true once he reached the capital city. However, Kim Sunggyu was just a drop in the sea of dreaming musicians, many of which had been trying to break into the industry for years.

After failing several auditions, and after seeing one too many familiar faces at those auditions, Sunggyu grew disheartened. He gradually lost that baseless confidence and instead gained an increasingly pessimistic attitude. His allotted month was coming to a close soon, and now he was faced with a critical decision to make: should he get a job and stay in Seoul or should he give up his naive dream and just go home. 

He went with the latter. So Sunggyu packed up his bags and moved out of the hellish hostel and away from the city that crushed his rocker dreams. But sadly for the poor and downtrodden teen, he couldn't even get back home without heaps of trouble. He used up the very last of his money for a bus ticket back home and some food for the long trip. He had splurged a bit on the food, which in hindsight was his third biggest mistake. His second biggest mistake was falling asleep on the bus for the entire ride. His biggest mistake was getting onto the wrong bus entirely at the terminal.

Sunggyu didn't know that it could happen, but it did. He was now in a strange town, penniless, with nothing but his coat and his duffle to his name. Things couldn't have been worse. He thought that he'd giving hitchhiking a try, but then after second thought, hitchhiking meant riding with complete strangers and there would be no guarantee that he'd make it home alive. His mind went wild with horror like scenarios that would happen after he'd get into the car. No, he wasn't planning on making his day worse by dying so he went for the next best thing, pan-handling in the park.

A handsome teen like himself with a decent voice should at least earn enough for a bus ticket a few towns over, but the moment he opened his mouth, no sound would come out. He'd lost his confidence in his voice, in himself. He'd become entirely self-conscience. So now, he was just sitting on the park bench with his hat in one hand and his pocketknife in the other. He was scratching a sad face into the wooden bench, much like the deep frown that was on his own. If worst came to worst (and it was starting to seem like it was heading in that direction) and he disappeared and was kidnapped or murdered, at least someone would find his traces here. Kim Sunggyu was here and alive and depressed. 

 _There's a pond right there_ , Sunggyu thought as he raised his head and sniffed. _Maybe I should just walk in and...no, the water is too cold. And scary_. He closed his eyes and leaned back. "Aish, I just want to go home," he lamented under his breath. Tears were already clouding his eyes. _Right, no one knows me here. I have nothing to lose by crying. Nothing at all_.

"Hey, isn't that Jonghwan? Jonghwan?" Sunggyu stiffened. The tears in his eyes dried up at the sound of the girl's voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her approaching him, long black hair tied up in a ponytail with a red ribbon. She was pretty, prettier than all of the girls from his town. Sunggyu faced forward again, afraid to be caught leering and trying his best to look normal, stoic. But instead of just walking past him to her friend (or boyfriend), the pretty girl only came closer to him. Sunggyu became more nervous with every step she took, and even more so when he realized that he was the only guy in the vincity and she had meant it. "Yah, Jonghwan-ah!" the girl yelled, staring straight at him. Sunggyu finally turned towards her and smiled apologetically. For some reason, he shared in her embarrassment. The girl blushed and immediately stammered, "Oh, sorry. You looked like someone I know. I'm sorry."

"Ah, no that's okay," Sunggyu stuttered back, bowing his head. His face was growing hot.

"I could've told you that it wasn't him." Sunggyu raised his head again. It was a different voice and a different girl, standing next to the pretty one with the red ribbon. In comparison, the second girl was much plainer. Her hair was in a sloppy bun, slowly slipping down her head. The second girl looked Sunggyu up and down, but didn't meet his eyes. "He's _way_ smaller," she remarked. Sunggyu frowned, wondering who was supposed to be smaller, him or this Jonghwan guy.

"Why didn't you?" the pretty girl whined to her friend, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. The second girl shrugged and then gave her friend a sheepish smile. The first girl just shook her head at her friend and sighed. Then she turned to Sunggyu again and bowed. "Anyway, I'm _really_ sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Sunggyu dismissed, giving the girl a friendly grin.

The girl with the ribbon gave one in return. "Well then...bye!" she said cheerfully as she waved. She then wrapped her arm around her friend's and dragged her away. The second waved farewell to him as well, but with a stern expression on her face. The small smile that he had fell from his face. _What's her problem?_

Whatever was going on with the girl, Sunggyu didn't think much of it after the two vanished from his sight. He had his own problems to think about, like how to get home. It was possible to look around town and offer help for a small price. And if he managed to do so, he'd probably still have to spend the night in town after working. What was to be his bed? This splintering bench? Sunggyu gripped the edge of the bench with his hands. He'd be exposed and cold the whole night through, but what other choice did he have? The bus station? Maybe he could stay there after he bought a ticket. But he still didn't have any money. It was starting to become a circular problem.

Then in the back of his mind was another thought nagging at him: if he ever got home, what would he say to his parents? 'I'm sorry'? Was he truly sorry or would he only say that so he could be welcomed back in? Sunggyu didn't know. But he knew that he'd regret not giving his dreams a shot, and he wasn't sorry for taking the chance. 'I missed you'? That would be true. Whenever he saw a family sit down to a meal, Sunggyu would be reminded of his own. He never hated his parents. They just didn't understand him; they didn't understand his passion. He wished that he could've left for Seoul with their support rather than rebelling against their wishes and running away to the city. He loved his parents. He didn't want to disappoint them. He missed them, dearly.

This time, the tears actually fell, pouring down his face in streams. And he let them, not even bothering to wipe them away. The tears cascaded down his chin and dripped onto his shirt. He didn't think he could stop crying even if he tried. He was just that sad and forlorn.

"Oh!" a familiar voice gasped. Well, that did the trick. Sunggyu suddenly went from sad and bitterly crying to embarrassed and red. He quickly tried to mop up any traces of his tears as the two girls approached him once again. They must've just come back from a convenience store. They were both carrying black, plastic bags. Sunggyu smacked his lips, imaging what kind of delicious treats rested inside. "Not-Jonghwan is still here," the pretty girl whispered to her friend, but not lowly enough for Sunggyu to miss it. He caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye. She looked genuinely worried. Was she worried about him or...

"What do we do? That's our bench," the second girl spoke back in hushed tones. Or the girls could be entirely worried about their bench and didn't even care for the boy who had been caught crying. _This day can't get any worse_ , Sunggyu thought.

The pretty girl shrugged and then led her friend to the bench next to his, overlooking the pond. As they sat down, Sunggyu could feel her eyes gazing at the side of his head. "Do you think he's waiting for someone?" she mused to her friend.

"Like a girlfriend?" The second girl immediately suggested as she pulled out her ice cream and opened it. Then she suddenly gasped. Sunggyu tried his best to remain calm and still, but he couldn't stop from jumping up a little. "Maybe he was stood up?!" the girl spoke animatedly, her messy hair flying all over the place, sticking to her ice cream (as if it needed to be any messier). "Maybe they broke up." The girl leaned forward, looking past her pretty friend. "He looks so sad," she said in a pitying tone, pouting before eating her ice cream, all the while still watching Sunggyu as if he were a drama.

 _These girls_ , Sunggyu cursed in his head. _Why can't they mind their own business? There's nothing interesting about me. Nothing at all_. Sunggyu turned his head, staring straight at them and was about to give the two gossiping girls a piece of his mind. However, one of them still had a sense of mind.

The pretty girl pulled her friend back and put her finger to her lips."Sh! I think he can hear us," she reprimanded the other. Then the two of them turned to Sunggyu and bowed apologetically. “Sorry."

However, the messy one with ice cream, now dripping from her lips onto her chin, didn't stop at a simple apology. "Are you waiting for someone?" she asked as she wiped her mouth.

"Yah!" her friend exclaimed, hitting her shoulder.

Sunggyu sighed. The girls' curiosity was insatiable. Maybe if he fed it a little, they would leave him alone. "Not really. I'm waiting for something not someone," he answered as vaguely as he could, but the two girls just stared at him blankly, waiting for him to continue. "My bus," he added to his lie.

"Oh," the second girl muttered and leaned back onto the bench. She then tilted her head towards her friend and spoke lowly, "What bus goes by here?"

The girl with the red ribbon pursed her lips as she thought. She shook her head when she arrived at a conclusion, "None that I know of."

The second leaned forward a bit, narrowing her eyes on the lonesome boy on the bench. She continued to eat her ice cream as she stared, and Sunggyu continued to lose his patience with her. "He's suspicious," she muttered.

"I can still hear you," Sunggyu finally snapped at her.

"You're suspicious!" the messy girl replied back, louder this time for the whole park to hear. Her pretty friend just hung her head, embarrassed by the other. But the girl had also embarrassed herself. After she shouted at Sunggyu, a nervous smile appeared on her lips, and she broke out into an anxious laugh, trying to ease the tension that had quickly formed between her and Sunggyu. 

Sunggyu's frowned deepened. He was perplexed as to what to do with these girls, the messy one in particular. Should he yell at her? Take out all of his grievances on her? But could he really blame her for her natural (and aggravating) curiosity? He _was_ being suspicious. Should he just get up and walk away from their scrutiny? Where would he go then? Or maybe...his gaze lowered from her face to the ice cream in her hands. He'd thought about taking that ice cream as retribution and just eating it. Also because he was starving, and the way she was eating it made it look delicious.

And the pretty girl noticed. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"No." Sunggyu might've lied, but his stomach betrayed him, growling loudly.

The messy girl dropped her gaze to Sunggyu's stomach and smiled cheekily. "He's lying again," she teased.

"Eung," was all her friend said in reply about the matter. It seemed like she knew that they'd ate away at Sunggyu patience, like the messy one had scarfed down her ice cream. The pretty one leapt off the bench and goaded her friend, tapping her on the shoulder. "Come on. We have to give Coach the money and get home before it gets dark." She then whipped her head to look at Sunggyu, her ponytail and ribbon hitting the side of her face. "You should go home soon too," she urged time with a stern, almost motherly smile. After that, the pretty girl spun on her heels and began to walk away. Her friend, however, remained on the bench, searching her coat pockets for something, and then continued her search through her plastic bag. Sunggyu scoffed. Everything about this girl was sloppy. Her hair was practically undone now, her bun slipped down past the nape of her neck. And now she probably misplaced something, maybe her wallet. _This girl._ Eventually, her pretty friend realized that the other wasn't following her. "What are you doing? Come on. Let's go."

"Hold on. I'm coming!" the messy girl called out, jumping off from the bench and scurrying after her friend.

And of course, she left the black plastic began behind on the bench. "Oh, wait! You left this!" Sunggyu yelled out, pointing at the abandoned bag.

The girl turned around as she was back-pedaling to catch up with her friend. "Keep it! I'm stuffed," she shouted back to Sunggyu. Her hands then flew down to her stomach as she grimaced. "Ah, I feel like I'm going to explode," she groaned, and it seemed a bit forced because she immediately grinned afterwards and waved at Sunggyu before spinning back around and running after her friend. "Unnie! Wait up!"

Sunggyu didn't need to be told twice. He rushed over to the bench next to him and rummaged through the bag, examining the goods inside. There was more ice cream inside, which was better than nothing to have for dinner. As he was wondering how much ice cream that girl could eat, he found something else in the bag, something flat and colorful. Money. "Oh," he gasped as he pulled it out, raised his head, and searched for the girl. And at that moment, the messy girl was looking back at him. He lifted his hand, showing her the money that she left behind. She just smiled and gave him a thumbs-up.

 _This girl_. She was more than just sloppy and messy. Sunggyu's impression of her drastically changed from the pretty girl's plain and nosy, loud friend to one of an angel, rescuing him and giving him means to get home. Even her wispy fly-aways morphed into a halo around her face. And over time, she became more idealized, more perfect. He had forgotten her face and her voice over the years, but he'd never forgotten her gesture. It was etched into his mind and heart.

Back then, when it came to Fate, Sunggyu was agnostic. He didn't claim that it existed, but he also never said that it didn't. He simply just didn't know. However, that day, he might have believed in the existence of Fate a little more than usual. He felt like he _needed_ to be there, stranded in that small town, sitting on that particular bench in that exact park. Even the circumstances that lead him to that place seemed ridiculous and orchestrated, as if it came out of a drama. But he needed to be there, and he needed to meet those silly girls. He needed, especially, to meet the messy haired girl because after meeting her and accepting her 'gift,' Sunggyu realized that he had luck. Even though the world seemed to be against him at the moment, crushing his spirit, there was still something, or someone, looking out for him. He started to regain the confidence in himself that he'd lost over the past month. And with that confidence, he was able to go home and face his parents again, who were just happy to be joined once again with their son, so much so that they became less strict and gave Sunggyu the freedom he needed. And even though he now had the freedom to do what he pleased, Sunggyu ended up fulfilling his parents' dream for him and became a teacher. But it was a path and career that he chose on his own, and that made all of the difference in the world.

For years, that's what Sunggyu believed were the only consequences of his rebellion. But nearly 13 years later, Fate would reveal that it had more in store for Sunggyu, and he was starting to believe in Fate more than just a little.


	22. "I need you" (age 30)

Sunggyu was nervous. He didn’t anticipate meeting up with her again so soon. To be honest, he didn’t know if they’d ever meet up again. They had left things between each other on an awkward (and embarrassing) note, confessing things that weren’t supposed to ever come to light. And so he was dumbfounded that she’d messaged him that morning: “Let’s have lunch!” Quickly followed by, “We need to talk.” Yes, they did. It was time to act like the adults they were and sit down and discuss this in a mature way. And if all else failed and the conversation took a turn for the worse, Sunggyu could always run away from it, pretending that he had somewhere else to be.

He was still reading the message that she’d sent to him that morning, when he reached his destination. He almost ran into the door doing so, but he wanted to make sure that this was where he was supposed to be because it felt like it wasn’t. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest. His whole body was telling him to turn around and go back to his school.

He didn’t listen to it, and soon he was in front of the counter, in front of her. And she didn’t notice that he’d arrived yet. She was busying helping those in line ahead of him. Eventually, he cleared his voice and called out to her, “Hani-ssi?”

The librarian perked up and gave the other a warm smile. “Oh, Sunggyu! You’re early,” she pointed out as she glanced at the watch on her wrist.

“I can wait if you want,” he offered, his eyes scanning around him. People were making their way over to the desk with books in their hands as they were speaking. The library was surprisingly busy.

“It’s okay,” Hani assured him. She got up from her seat. “Hold on. Let me to get someone to cover for me.” And then she disappeared in the backroom, leaving Sunggyu surrounded by a couple of disgruntled book-lovers. He smiled apologetically at them as he stepped aside, waiting for Hani to return.

_This can’t get anymore awkward_.

But it did. Moments later, Hani returned, and the two of them decided to go to a noodle soup shop nearby in order to warm themselves up from the bitter cold outside. The walk over was uncomfortable, but they could at least excuse themselves for no talking because they were arming themselves against the wind. But now, sitting down at the table across from one another, they had no excuse for the silence.

Luckily, Hani was the one to break it first, “This is…” her voice drifted off as she giggled lightly.

“Awkward?” Sunggyu suggested.

“Yes, very,” Hani agreed with a relieved sigh, obviously happy that the other felt the same way. “But I wanted to talk to you about...well, you know.”

“Feelings?” Sunggyu filled in the blank once again. And ‘feelings’ was phrasing it lightly. There was a better word on the tip of their tongues, but neither wanted to say it.

“Yes,” the librarian replied with a nod. “Especially how I feel about you,” she added, which surprised the teacher. Sunggyu cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. This didn’t seem right. Hani then looked panicked as she further clarified, “I know that we left things between us on a... _strange_ note. I’ve never been in a situation like this before.”

_Ah, so her feelings hadn’t changed. Good_ , Sunggyu thought with a small smile. “Neither have I,” he admitted. “Aish,” he cursed lightly and then sputtered into laughter. “I don’t think anybody has.” He then leaned over the table and whispered to the other, “Are we crazy for thinking this?”

Hani leaned in two and her eyes darted back and forth. “I’ve been wondering that too. What are the chances?” she spoke in a hushed tone. She then pulled back, sinking into her seat and clicking her tongue. “We must be crazy.”

“No. It’s those two,” the teacher retorted. “They’re the crazy ones, right? Ha!” he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Look at us forming a support group to learn how to cope with them,” he mumbled lowly and shook his head.

He looked up and saw Hani nodding her head enthusiastically. “They are insane. Positively insane,” she said and yet she had the widest and warmest smile on her face. Blush was creeping onto her cheeks. _She must really_...Sunggyu’s thought was interrupted as her eyes widened. She had caught something out of the corner of her eye. Her head whipped around to look out the window. “And they’re here right now,” she whispered quickly pressing her finger on the glass.

“What? You’re lying!” he exclaimed. He practically jumped out of his seat and looked at where her finger was pointing. And sure enough, to the side of her finger was the couple walking side-by-side down the street. They appeared to be heading towards the restaurant. _Please, no. Anywhere but here_. Sunggyu hid his face in his hands, cautiously glanced across the table, and saw Hani with her nose buried deep into the menu. _She’s hiding too. Maybe...did she too_ …

The bell of the shop rang. The couple had chosen to come inside.

“They’re here,” Hani whispered as she lowered her menu, exposing her eyes. They flittered from the door and fell on Sunggyu. “What do we do?”

“Gyu-yah! Noona!” a voice boomed from the other side of the room. Sunggyu sighed and Hani put down the menu. They were caught and now prey for the hunter that was Nam Woohyun. Woohyun walked up to their table with Maeri quickly following him. He cocked his head as he looked back and forth between the two at the table. “What are you guys doing together? I thought you broke up,” he asked. But then a reason came to him and he snapped his fingers, pointing at them as he chuckled cheekily. “Are you guys back together? Huh?”

“Oh, this is exciting,” Maeri exclaimed, clapping her hands like a seal. She looked a little too elated (and somewhat relieved) for Sunggyu’s liking. The teacher stared straight at her, but her eyes were fixed on Hani. “We can leave if you want,” she offered. “Come on, Hyun. Let’s give them some privacy.” Maeri grabbed him by the back of his collar and began pulling him towards another table.

“Uh, but we’re not…” Sunggyu was stuttering as he watched Maeri try to make her escape, dragging her fiancé behind her.

The engaged couple had only taken a few steps away from the table when Woohyun suddenly ducked and spun, pulling himself out of Maeri’s grip. She tried to grab him again, but slippery Woohyun had evaded her again. “Hold on. I want to ask them,” he said to her with a grin on his face. “Besides,” he spoke as he plopped himself down in the seat next to Sunggyu. “We’re all friends here. Let’s eat together. Double date!”

Sunggyu hung his head. _I thought we’d gotten out of this_. He looked over at Hani and mouthed, ‘What now?’ Hani shrugged, nervously chewing at her lip as her gaze shifted over to the man next to him. She then put a smile on her face. “You can join us,” she offered the opportunity, even though Woohyun had already taken it. She turned and faced Maeri who was still standing at the side of the table, disgruntled. “Really, we don’t mind. It’s just a _friendly_ lunch.” Sunggyu was glad that she had slipped that in there. Hani was smoother than he gave her credit for. “You’re not interrupting anything.”

Maeri didn’t budge. “I still feel like we’re intruding.” She gripped Woohyun’s shoulder and shook it. “Let’s ask them later. It’s awkward to ask it now.”

“Ask us what?” Sunggyu directed the question to his friend.

“Well, we’ve been thinking…” Woohyun began but he was quickly cut off by his fianceé.

“We’ll send you an e-vite,” Maeri announced suddenly. “A nice one! Wait for it!”

Woohyun waved his hand to dismiss that idea. “Ah no! It’s better this way. More personal. We are all good friends, right?” He faced Maeri and looked her up and down. Maeri was still standing, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, anxiously. “And sit down already. You’re making me nervous,” he remarked, lightly pushing her to sit next to Hani. And then Maeri finally sat down with a frown on her face. Woohyun couldn’t even begin to guess what was wrong with Maeri (the reason could range from she just wanted to be alone with Woohyun to she had to use the bathroom badly). Instead, he had other things pressing on her mind. “What are you guys doing on Christmas Eve?” he opened up the question to the other couple. Before responding, Hani and Sunggyu exchanged nervous glances. Woohyun hit the table, shocking both of them. “Ah, right. If you guys are back together, then you might want to spend it together alone.”

Maeri kicked him under the table. “I told you it’d be awkward to ask,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Yea, yea,” Woohyun muttered, wincing as he rubbed his bruising shin. “You’re right like always.”

“What do you mean ‘always’?” Maeri’s frown deepened even more.

“Uh, wait,” Sunggyu broke in. “What about Christmas?”

“Maeri and I spend every Christmas Eve with Jonghyun, her little brother,” Woohyun turned towards the other two and began explaining. “Wrapping gifts, baking cookies, decorating the tree, playing games…” he listed, counting them on his fingers one-by-one.

“Looking at the lights!” Maeri interjected, finally with a smile on her face.

“Right.” Woohyun nodded. “The whole thing!” His eyes darted back and forth between the other couple, and his fingers twitched nervously. What he was about to say was pretty sensitive, but he tried to phrase it as delicately as he could: “And considering your families...we thought we could be yours for the holiday.” He practically whispered the first part and then drowned it out with the second sentiment.

_Family for the holiday?_ Sunggyu repeated in his head. It sounded nice, really nice. He wondered which of the two had thought of that idea. _Not Maeri,_ that was for sure, or at least she didn’t act like she wanted them to come. She was fiddling with the napkin in her hands and gave her friend a small smile. _Maybe she doesn’t want me to come_.

“That sounds like fun!” Hani exclaimed, putting her hand on Maeri’s. She gave her friend a smile in return. “My sister is taking my father with her on vacation overseas. I have no plans,” she confessed. Hani then directed the conversation towards Sunggyu, “How about you?”

“I don’t have any plans,” Sunggyu answered lowly. It was true. He had no plans, but he didn’t know if he’d rather spend the holiday by himself or with the two maniacs and a girl he’d dated. Neither option seemed ideal. _Maybe Dongwoo will_...

But apparently Sunggyu’s answer was an answer enough for Woohyun. “Fantastic! I’ll text you the details later,” he announced. “This will be fun.”

Sunggyu smiled at his friend and glanced over at Hani out of the corner of his eye. She was giving Maeri the same forced smile that he was giving Woohyun and was looking back at him. _There’s no escape for us from this torture, is there?_

* * *

After they had paid and finished their meals, the foursome was about to separate, much to Sunggyu’s liking because that was one of the most awkward lunches that he’d ever had. Woohyun seemed to be giving him too much attention, essentially ignoring the women on the other side of the table, which was suitable because Maeri was ignoring them too. _They must’ve gotten into a fight_ , Sunggyu concluded. They obviously reconciled, but things were tense between them. And Woohyun looked almost relieved to have stumbled upon them at the restaurant.

_Oh well, it was going to be an awkward lunch anyways_ , Sunggyu thought. At least Woohyun was always entertaining and funny. Although it was awkward, being with his best friend made it somewhat enjoyable.

But unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse.

“Oh, noona! That book,” Woohyun shouted out as Hani was walking away, heading back to work. He had suddenly remembered. “I brought it with me to return it today, while we were out. I’ll walk back with you.”

“Oh okay,” Hani responded, looking slightly astonished. Her eyes flew to her friend.  “Maeri…”

“I’ll just stay around here,” Maeri said, fiddling with the strap of her purse. “We were going to go Christmas shopping after lunch, and I might as well get a headstart. You guys, go,” she urged them and shooed them away. “Woohyun-ah, be quick, okay? I’ll need help,” she called out to her fiancé as he was leaving.

“Okay,” Woohyun chirped back. “And bye, Gyu! We’ll see you Christmas Eve!” And with that, he and Hani walked away, leaving perhaps the two most awkward people of the awkward foursome left to have an incredibly awkward encounter.

Which Sunggyu only made worse by stopping Maeri as she tried to scurry away with a mumbled farewell. “Maeri...ssi,” Sunggyu slipped back into formalities. “About the other day, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those things.”

“Hm?” Maeri raised her head, looking him in the eye for the first time that day. “What are you talking about?”

_You know very well what I’m talking about_ , he wanted to shout at her. But that would be the exactly wrong thing to say. Instead, he stuttered, “The date...auction.”

“Oh! That! Pbft!” she sputtered and lightly tapped Sunggyu on the arm (and looked like she immediately regretted it as that hand immediately flew to her purse strap and clenched into a tight fist around it). “I forgot all about that.”

“Really?” Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. _Maybe I am crazy_. Maeri nodded adamantly and then grinned widely.

“It was just a joke!” she remarked. “And I live with _Nam Woohyun_ , so I can take pranks well,” she pointed out.

“O-oh...right,” he replied lowly. _I am crazy._

Suddenly Maeri leaned in and a cheeky expression reminiscent of her fiancé crept onto her face. “So, you and unnie are back together?” she whispered as if her unnie was within earshot.

“No,” he immediately replied. “We just met to have lunch together. As friends.” Maeri pulled back, looking confused. “I don’t think that there’s any chance of us dating again.” _Remember what I told you the other night?_ No she didn’t. Maeri was making it obvious that she was trying to put that night behind her.

“Friends? That’s nice,” Maeri muttered back, eyes downcast. “It’s nice that you two can still be together like that.” She raised her head and smiled. “Unnie could use some more friends. I’m happy...and you could always use more friends than just Dongwoo,” she teased.

“Yah!” Sunggyu yelled back. “I have other friends! There’s Hoya, Sungjong...Woohyun!” He then gulped before adding another, “...and you?” It came out more like a question than he had intended.

“Right,” Maeri replied with a nod. “You have _a lot_ of friends. How could I forget?”

“Exactly,” he retorted. “I’m _very_ popular.”

Maeri laughed. “Right, well, Mr. Popular, I guess I’ll be seeing you later.”

“Later,” he said back, waving to her as she walked on by. _Maybe Christmas won’t be so bad._

* * *

“So your family is going on vacation without you?” Woohyun asked as they walked up to the library. It was only until after the words flew out of his mouth that he realized that it wasn’t the most tactful question. He watched Hani carefully out of the corner of his eye, to look for her reaction. Like usual, there was a faint small. She wasn’t offended.

“I was invited,” the librarian answered. “But I chose to stay here.”

Woohyun opened the library’s door wide open for her to walk through. He looked at her curiously as she walked by. “Why?” he asked, closing the door behind him. “Any beach resort beats this town.”

Hani spun on her heels, walking backwards and facing the man. “Most of the staff is taking time off during the holidays. Someone needs to stay behind,” she explained and then immediately spun back around.

“That’s nice of you,” Woohyun muttered as she followed Hani to the desk. She walked behind the desk and began unbuttoning her coat.

“No, that’s me being the maknae of the staff,” she corrected him with a slight laugh, lightening her tone. Woohyun sighed as he watched her yank her arms out of her coat. “I don’t have those privileges yet. Besides, I don’t mind,” Hani further explained, turning her back to the other while she hung up her coat on the hook along the wall. When she turned to face him again, she still had the same small smile on her face from moments before, but it had failed to reach her eyes. _Lies.You mind_ , Woohyun was about to say out loud, but he bit his tongue at the last moment. These kinds of things, he could say them to Maeri. These kinds of things, he shouldn’t say to Hani because they didn’t have the same type of relationship that he and Maeri have. And yet...why did he feel like he could? They were starting to become too comfortable with each other.

Hani grin grew wider, and her eyes finally twinkled with excitement. “This time of year is nostalgic, right?” she spoke quickly as she leaned against the counter. “There’s no better time of the year to spend at home.”

Woohyun put his hands on the counter and leaned in as well. “But it’s also a good time to spend with the ones you love,” he pointed out in a low voice.

“And I am!” Hani argued. She quickly pulled herself back up straight, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. The librarian continued as her eyes scanned the room, “Maeri has always been like a little sister to me.”

_That’s right. At least she’ll have us then for the holidays_ , Woohyun thought with a grin. “That’s good then,” he said as he handed the book to Hani. He then put his hands into his pockets as he watched her scan the barcode on the book. _Speaking of loved ones, we aren’t the only ones that she could have_. Woohyun cleared his throat to get her attention. Hani raised her head slowly as she placed the book aside; she looked confused. “Did Dongwoo ever call you? I gave him your number.”

She gave a short chuckle before replying, “He did.” The librarian then placed the book on the trolley with the others that needed to placed back onto the shelves. She then began to do so, leaving her station at the desk to put the books back.

Woohyun followed her. “And?”

“Nam Woohyun,” Hani said in a stern voice, sliding a book roughly onto a shelf. She shot a glare at the man out of the corner of her eye. “I swear that you’re trying to marry me off more than my own father is,” she joked, but her voice had an edge to it which only grew sharper with what she said next, “I told you. I can handle my own love life.” She moved down the aisle.

“Yea but…” Woohyun tried to fight back but his voice gave out. Hani had turned around to face him again. Never had she looked so tense before, so agitated. It had killed all the fight in him.

“But?” she urged him to continue.

“I just want you to be happy,” he answered in a meek voice. He shouldn’t feel guilty for wishing happiness for someone, but he did at the moment.

The librarian pasted that small smile back onto her face, as if it were proof of anything. “Am I not happy?” She asked.

“I don’t think you are. Not really,” he answered truthfully. There was a marked difference between this Hani in front of him and the one that he knew years back. In high school, she was always of a cheerful disposition, with a bright smile and an even brighter attitude to go along with it. Woohyun knew that she’d gone through a lot since then, but he didn’t think her character would change. When she smiled recently, it wasn’t cheerful, but it was a serene smile. She was content, but not happy. “Lately, you haven’t been smiling like you used to. And...I don’t know. I look at you and you look sad.”

Hani quickly covered her mouth with her hand, suddenly becoming self-conscious. “Well, I might not be happy,” she admitted. “But I don’t think a new relationship will help that.” She walked back to the trolley and picked up another book.

“One with Dongwoo would,” Woohyun retorted, walking up to the trolley and scanning the books on it.

Hani smirked. “Why is that?” she challenged.

_Because he’s nice. Because he’s positive and will make you happy...Because he’s like me. It’d be comfortable_. “Because it would. Trust me,” he said instead and tried to sound as convincing as he could because he knew that his argument was lacking. “Call him back,” he insisted. “He’s a good guy.” Woohyun then picked up a book and handed it over to Hani.

She took the book and finally his advice. “I might,” the librarian responded while clutching the book tightly in her hands.

“Okay then,” Woohyun said with a wide grin. He was glad that she finally conceded and gave him a chance to play cupid again. He then began to backtrack, walking away from her while waving (Maeri was probably lost in her own indecision without him again). “I’ll see you for Christmas Eve. Don’t forget!” With that, he left Hani and the library to go hunt down his (future) wife and the perfects for Christmas.

_We should get something for noona...and Sunggyu too_.

* * *

While Woohyun was gone, Maeri was indeed swirling in the depths of her own indecision. She had tried to take this opportunity, while the rascal was gone, to buy his gift. But what does one give their almost husband? Maeri had spent a long time looking at couple’s items: matching outfits, his and hers sets, even coordinating toothbrushes. Nothing seemed right. Also she’d be essentially buying something for herself as well, so she scrapped that idea. Then she thought about getting Woohyun a watch and attaching a note to it saying something cheesy about their time spent together. But she ended up throwing out that idea as well. Woohyun already had too many watches. And there were also too many options with the different faces and bands. Maeri could’ve been stuck there for hours just weighing her options (and then what if Woohyun didn’t like it in the end after all of that time?). And so, after all of that time, when Woohyun finally caught up to her, Maeri was buying him new shoes for work. She noticed earlier in the week that his black dress shoes were getting beat up and needed to be replaced. It was a rather dull gift, but hopefully a thoughtful one.

“You got me shoes didn’t you?” Woohyun asked in a cheeky tone as he came up to her side. There was a slight skip to his step at the anticipation from the gift (and from figuring it out).

“Pbt! What? No,” Maeri sputtered and horribly denied. She clutched the bag tightly to her chest. “This is for my dad.”

“No,” Woohyun denied, shaking his head. “We got our dads the membership at that indoor driving range, remember?” He poked her in her side as he ‘prodded’ her memory.

Maeri slapped his hand away. “Fine then. I got you compression socks because you have the legs of an old man,” she retorted. She then quickly tried to leave the shoe department, like that would make Woohyun forget that she’d made a purchase there.

Woohyun must’ve been stunned for a moment because it took him a few seconds to return back at her side. “I do not,” he lamely argued. And then a few seconds later, he added, “Do I?” Maeri only shrugged in response with a cheeky smile on her face and continued walking. “Whatever you’re still the older one of the two of us, _noona_ ,” he pointed out. “And if my legs look old, yours must be worse. I at least work out.”

“Maybe I should’ve gotten us couple compression socks,” Maeri mused as she looked down at her bag. She gazed back up at Woohyun. “Do they even make those?”

“Eung.” Woohyun nodded. “It’s the hot item among geriatrics this season.” Maeri laughed. It was a lame joke, but it still warmed her heart. After they had fought, in spite of making up, things were still tense between them. Maeri had promised to put more effort into their relationship. And she tried, but her effort was clumsy. She tried to start more conversations and initiate more skinship. But she soon found out there are only so many times that you can ask “So how are you doing?” in a single day, and punching someone on the arm isn’t exactly a loving touch of intimacy. Things were awkward, and she was thinking that things were better when she wasn’t trying. Like right now. Right now felt normal, like it used to be.

“But…” but then Woohyun had to make it awkward again. “Isn’t there a saying that if you give shoes to your lover, they’ll leave you?” He looked straight at Maeri and asked gravely, “Do you want me to leave?” His lip quivered as he pouted.

Maeri stopped in her tracks. “I, uh, um,” she stammered, clutching the handles of the bag tightly. She was just seconds away from running back to the shoe department and returning them. And it was right as she took as step back to turn around was when Woohyun reached out and grabbed her forearm, stopping her.

“Maeri, it was a joke,” he admitted with a nervous smile. He then let go of her arm and put his hands in his pockets. “You’d think that after 12 years, you’d be able to tell.”

“I was kidding too,” Maeri excused herself, taking a step forward.

“Really?” Woohyun didn’t sound convinced.

“Yea,” Maeri lied. To be honest, she was anxious and had been all day. She didn’t want to fight with Woohyun again, and she especially didn’t want him to think that she didn’t want him around (like he accused her of days ago). And so his joke was like her fears come to life. Now, even though Woohyun said that he didn’t mean it, she couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread that overwhelmed her once again. The warm feeling from seconds prior had frozen over.

So she changed the topic of conversation. “Did you think of something to get our moms yet? I’m stumped.”

Woohyun nodded and took her hand into his (and her anxiety died down a little). “I have an idea. I saw something over there,” he said as he pointed to another store. “Let’s go.”

Maeri squeezed his hand tightly. “Eung, Let’s go.”

* * *

Tradition, for Woohyun and Maeri, their Christmas Holiday could be summed up in that one word. Traditionally, they spent every year with Jonghyun at the Yoo residence, and their parents typically would go to a Holiday party. However, lately, the parents had been making an overnight trip to a retreat nearby (probably another of their several attempts to manufacture ‘romantic’ moments for the two). And on those nights when the parents were gone for the whole night, Woohyun and Maeri would go all out for Jonghyun, even writing letters to Santa Claus and then staying up as late as they could to wait for the man in the red suit to come visit. The three of them would pull out the futons and sleep together on the living room floor, making memories on the cold winter night.

However, this year they’d be breaking tradition. First of all, Jonghyun was now twelve years old and growing more defiant by the day. Maeri was wondering if the preteen would even be willing to wear the matching pajamas that their parents usually gave them over the years (even now Woohyun and Maeri would go to bed accidentally wearing matching pajamas because of that). Would Jonghyun even write a letter or bake cookies? Maeri guessed that she and Woohyun would just have to wait and see. Maybe it was time to change what they normally did. And inviting Sunggyu and Hani was certainly a big change. But was it a good one?

Maeri placed a hand over her heart. She was more anxious now more than ever. Christmas shopping yesterday brought her and Woohyun closer to where they once were, but that fight was still stuck in the back of her mind. It had hardly been a week. They needed more time. Her eyes flittered over to Woohyun who was sitting in the driver’s seat as they were riding in the car to her house. He must’ve sensed her watching him. Woohyun stopped singing along to the carols playing on the radio and shot Maeri a smile. They needed more time, but Maeri knew that they’d be fine. They’ve had worse fights. This wasn’t their first, and it surely wouldn’t be their last.

Was she nervous about Jonghyun? Yes. As he was getting older, she was feeling more of a rift growing between them not only because of her age but her gender as well. It was only natural that Jonghyun would gravitate towards Woohyun nowadays. He needed an older male to look up to, and Woohyun filled that role splendidly. Unfortunately, Maeri did not. And sometimes she felt pushed out by the duo. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be stuck in the kitchen baking cookies by herself while the two boys played video games like last year (she liked video games too. It wasn’t fair).

But that wouldn’t happen this year at least. Hani would be there, baking by her side...and Sunggyu too. Maeri’s heart sped up.

Maybe it wasn’t nerves or anxiety. Maybe it was just excitement. Tonight was one of her favorite nights of the year, Christmas Eve. Maeri rolled down the car window and inhaled deeply. Even in air smelled special tonight, magical. There seemed to be a promise of a snowfall too, lingering in the air. “It’s going to be a good night,” Maeri mused as she rolled up the window again.

“Of course,” Woohyun responded as if it were a matter of fact. “It’s Christmas Eve.”

“Of course,” Maeri repeated, and she became more certain that she was just excited. It was Christmas Eve, and she felt like a kid again, like when she and Woohyun had spent their first Christmas Eve together when they were 18. _It’s going to be a good night_.

* * *

“You guys don’t have to spend every Christmas Eve with me,” Jonghyun muttered after opening the front door and being met with two overzealous 30 year-olds dressed in red and green.

The grin fell from Maeri’s face. “Merry Christmas to you too,” she grumbled and walked inside.

“What? Do you have a girlfriend that you’d rather be spending it with?” Woohyun teased as he came inside and began taking off his shoes.

“No, no I don’t,” Jonghyun adamantly denied. His hand shot straight to the back of his neck as he rubbed it nervously. Blush crept onto his cheeks. “But maybe I wanna spend it with my friends,” he added in a small voice.

Maeri peeked around the wall. “She must be a pretty friend,” she remarked in a sing-song tone before disappearing around the bend again, giggling to herself.

“Aish!” Jonghyun cursed at his sister’s shadow. He then cast a shy glance to the man standing next to him. “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he insisted.

Woohyun gave a tight-lipped smile and clapped a hand on the younger’s shoulder. “I believe you,” he responded. “But...I think you have a point.This might be the last year we celebrate like this. Who knows what next year holds?”

Jonghyun grimaced and shook his head. “I can’t believe you two are actually getting married,” he muttered under his breath. “It’s weird.”

Woohyun chuckled nervously. “Why?”

Jonghyun shrugged. “It’s gross,” he answered. “My sister is gross.” Woohyun now genuinely laughed. He could hardly believe that he’d accused the younger of having a girlfriend when it seemed like Jonghyun believed in the elementary school disease of ‘cooties.’ He was cute (and he also had a point. Maeri could be quite gross).

“What are you guys talking about?” Maeri asked, suddenly appearing in front of them and putting an apron on.

“Guy stuff,” Woohyun and Jonghyun replied unanimously. It was their go-to answer for whenever they were talking about Maeri behind her back because she would always react like so:

Maeri shook her head vehemently and waved her hand. “Nevermind. Nevermind. I don’t wanna know,” she sputtered out. She changed the topic. “Are Mom and Dad already out?”

Jonghyun nodded. “Yea they all left a little bit before you came.”

“They couldn’t wait?” Maeri asked. Jonghyun was opening his mouth to answer his sister, but she waved her hand and interrupted him, “I know. I know. Holiday traffic. It’s the same every year.” She sighed and shook her head. “Anyway, we’re out almost out of flour.”

“We can get some!” Jonghyun exclaimed. He made a mad dash for his shoes and quickly stuffed his feet inside of them. “Right, hyung?” He gazed up at the man hopefully.

Woohyun was already in the process of putting his shoes and coat back on when Jonghyun had asked. He nodded with a slight laugh. Woohyun was well aware of how Jonghyun, for lack of better terms, idolized him. Woohyun was the brother he wanted and needed. And ever since Woohyun had moved in with Maeri, Jonghyun had been seeing Woohyun less and less. The young boy wasn’t going to pass up any opportunity to hang out with the other.

And so the two of them left, hurrying out the door while whispering and snickering with each other. Maeri was left behind with a pout on her lips. She didn’t expect them to leave, or to leave so quickly. She’d hoped that Woohyun would offer and Jonghyun would stay behind to help her get things ready. And Jonghyun might’ve done so, if he were her little sister instead of a little brother. But hanging out with your thirty year-old sister may not be so appealing when you’re a preteen. What happened to the cute little boy that used to follow her around?

Maeri sighed and walked into the kitchen. She had planned to organize the things for baking cookies but then something more appealing caught the corner of her eye. Ah yes, her parents might’ve left without saying goodbye, but they did not forget about her. On the counter was a couple bottles of wine lined up, set out for her and her friends to enjoy. And Maeri was about to get a head start on the others. She pulled a drawer roughly open and took out the corkscrew. But before she could twist the screw into the cork of the wine bottle, the doorbell rang.

“Right,” Maeri said as she put the screw back into the drawer. “I should wait for everyone to come...or for it to be an appropriate hour, at least.” She reprimanded herself by knocking at her temple with the heel of her hand, and she began making her way to the front door. When her fingers gripped the doorknob, her heart sped up, probably with anticipation. Who was behind the door? Who came first? Who would she have to be alone with until Woohyun and her brother came back? Maeri yanked the door open.

“Merry Christmas!”

“Oh unnie!” Maeri greeted her friend, letting out a sigh of relief. She stepped aside and let the other in. A wide smile burst onto her face. Once Hani was inside, Maeri wrapped her arms around her in a hug. “Merry Christmas,” she wished and gave the other a squeeze. Right, Jonghyun might have Woohyun, but she had Hani as a substitute sibling, as her sister.

Hani hugged her back, without questioning the sudden burst of affection, and then let go. “So are we baking?” she asked.

Maeri felt her smile widen, tearing at the corner of her lips. “Yes, we are,” she responded excitedly, leading the elder into the kitchen. “I sent the boys out to get some things,” she partially lied. “But we can get started.”

“Awesome!” Hani exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “So does this make me your sous chef?” she joked as she grabbed for the apron that Maeri was handing to her.

A nervous laugh fell from Maeri’s lips. “More like I’m Woohyun’s sous chef,” she confessed. “Unnie, I’m not very good at cooking.”

“Hm,” Hani hummed as she nodded and tied the apron strings around her back. “Then maybe you can be mine for today,” she suggested. “I have this old family recipe we can try out. We used to have it every year for Christmas until…” her voice dropped. It sounded as if her throat had gotten tighter as she spoke. And yet, there was still a smile on her face. It was forced and small but it was still there. “I’ve never made it by myself before.”

Always one for tradition, Maeri didn’t need to be convinced to try out this recipe. Like she tried to do for herself every year, she wanted to help Hani to recover the child-like magic and wonder of Christmas. She wanted to make a good memory for her. “Yes, let’s do it,” Maeri emphatically agreed.

“But first,” Hani began as she walked over to the counter with a sly grin. She picked up a bottle of wine. “Let’s crack up one of these open as we get ready.”

“Call!”

* * *

“Do you think noona will be mad that we bought all of this?” Jonghyun asked the other. And to be honest, the two of them had gone overboard. Maeri had asked them to get one thing, and they were coming back two with two full bags each.

_Maybe_ , Woohyun thought with a harsh swallow. Maeri didn’t like it when they spent more than they had to. “We’re having a party though. We need all of this,” he reasoned. True, they needed more drinks and snacks, but perhaps not this many. But it wasn’t like they would go bad. Woohyun sighed. He was already preparing to defend himself. In case they had caught her a fighty mood.“As long as we got the flour, she’ll be happy.” He then shot a worried glance towards the younger. “We did get it, right?”

The two of them immediately stopped in their tracks and rummaged through their bags. “It’s in here, hyung!” Jonghyun exclaimed as he pulled his head out of one bad with a victorious smile.

“Good,” Woohyun spoke in relief. They would’ve been in deep trouble if they had left the store without it. While he was thanking his stars that they had the floor, Woohyun noticed a familiar figure standing in the driveway, slightly hunched with a red duffle bag in his hand. _Look who showed up with a bag full of goodies_ , Woohyun thought as he jogged up to the man. He immediately put his arm around him. “Oh, Gyu! You came!” Woohyun greeted, laughing at Sunggyu’s shocked face.

“Ah, yes. Merry Christmas,” Sunggyu mumbled as he tried to regain his composure (and his heartbeat). His eyes drifted over from his friend to the student standing next to them.  “You must be Jonghyun,” Sunggyu guessed. And instead of extending his hand to shake the younger’s, Sunggyu plunged it into the side pocket of his bag and pulled out a wrapped gift. “Uh, here,” he offered awkwardly to Jonghyun.

Jonghyun put both of the bags into one of his hands, and with the other one, now freed, he grabbed the gift. “Oh thank you, ahjussi,” he (as equally awkward) accepted the gift and went inside.

Sunggyu’s face returned to the shocked expression from moments before. Ahjussi, Jonghyun had just called him an old man and ran off with a gift. Woohyun clapped the teacher’s shoulder and laughed roaringly. “Come on. Let’s go inside,” he said and began pushing the other towards the house. “We need to stop Maeri before she sets the house on fire,” Woohyun joked but there was a twinge of truth to it. So he pushed the other a little harder so they could rescue the kitchen and home from Maeri’s baking-inept hands. Once inside, Woohyun eyes fixated on the duffle bag in Sunggyu’s hands. They had invited their two guests to spend the night, but Woohyun was guessing that there was something else in the bag besides a fresh pair of underwear and a toothbrush. “Did you get me a gift?” he asked bluntly.

Sunggyu straightened back up after taking off his shoes. “Was I supposed to?” his voice was grave, but the smile that broke out onto his face seconds afterwards was anything but.

“Jerk. I got you something,” Woohyun played along, acting offended. Sunggyu rolled his eyes and reached back into the side pocket of the bag, pulling out a bottle of champagne with a red ribbon tied around it. Woohyun quickly accepted the bottle from the other. Indeed, this was a day worth celebrating and cracking open a bottle of sparkling wine.“Thank you!” he chirped. Woohyun then shouted down the hallway (rather loudly too, Jonghyun and Sunggyu both winced), “Maeri-yah! Sunggyu’s here!”

“Oh,” a soft gasp was heard before Maeri came stumbling around the corner. Her face was slightly ruddy, and she appeared to be giddy. “That means everyone’s here!” she exclaimed (over)excitedly. She then waved to their new guest. “Hello!”

Sunggyu chuckled slightly. “Hi,” he responded back with a wave.

“Aigoo!” Woohyun chided as he walked up to his fiancée. “Looks like someone already got started on the festivities.” He put a hand against her warm cheek and then patted it slightly after feeling how hot it was against his skin. “Don’t you know that you shouldn’t drink alone?”

Maeri pouted and shook her head. “I’m not.”

Before Woohyun could ask ‘who?’, someone else came from around the corner. “Hello!” Hani announced herself with a giddy giggle lacing her greeting. Like Maeri, her face was glowing with a red sheen, and her reactions were exaggerated (but cutely so in Woohyun’s opinion), like when she caught sight of the preteen. Hani’s lips formed an ‘o’ shape as she clapped her hands together. “Oh, you must be Jonghyun! Nice to meet you!” she said as she bent down a little to look the younger in the eye.

“Uh huh. It’s nice to meet you too,” Jonghyun meekly replied, avoiding her gaze. His face was beginning to grow red like his sister’s (but for vastly different reasons).

Hani cocked her head and smiled “Are you going to be baking with us?” the librarian asked.

Jonghyun’s head snapped to face her. “Yes, of course! I do it every year,” he insisted, his eyes growing wide as if he was trying to convince the elder with his gaze. He then looked down at himself and the bags still in his hands. “Let me wash my hands first,” he spoke quickly before running off into the kitchen in order to drop off the bags, and then into his bedroom.

Hani giggled at the young boy’s enthusiasm, and the men did too. But one of the four wasn’t laughing. Maeri crossed her arms and looked off into the direction where her little brother had just disappeared to. “Funny. He didn’t seem to be interested in baking with me,” she grumbled.

“You’re not a pretty girl,” Woohyun blurted out, earning glares coming at him from all directions (and Maeri’s glare was particularly sharp). “Uh, I mean...you’re his sister. It’d be weird if he thought you were pretty,” he tried to defend himself. Apparently, it wasn’t enough. Maeri crossed her arms tighter across her chest and raised an eyebrow. There was no appeasing her right now, so Woohyun opted to distract her and change the subject. “You know you’re pretty. Forget about all of this. Let’s bake!” he suggested and ran off into the kitchen.

“If it helps, I think you’re pretty,” Hani tried to offer her friend some consolation.

“Me too,” Sunggyu added with a slight smile.

Maeri’s hands flew up to her cheeks. The alcohol must’ve made them so warm. She shook her head and sighed, “Let’s just bake.” She’d dealt with Woohyun long enough not to take his words to heart, just like how he knew how to deal with all of Maeri’s ‘quirks’ (like her temper that could flare violently without notice). But...Maeri walked into the kitchen, seeing Woohyun grinning broadly as he rolled the empty bottle of wine in his hands. But they’d always forgive each other, sometimes in word or in action. She walked up to his side and smiled back at him.

“You guys got a lot of baking done,” he teased, setting the bottle down onto the counter.

“We didn’t have any flour,” Maeri reasoned with a sheepish grin. It was her turn to change the topic. She nodded over to Hani who just walked into the room. “Unnie wants to bake a cake for us that her family makes every year.”

“Sounds good to me,” Woohyun easily agreed.

Sunggyu then came into the room. “I’m not really much of a baker,” he admitted. His eyes scanned the kitchen, and his smile slowly turned into a frown.

“Neither is Maeri,” Woohyun said, wrapping his arm around Maeri’s shoulders. He then looked down at her and noticed that she was frowning again. “What? You don’t like ovens! You forget to turn it on half the time,” he reminded her. Maeri dropped her gaze, and she tucked in her lips, acquiescing to Woohyun’s point.

“Really? Why don’t you like them?” Hani questioned as she leaned against the counter. She was evidentially eager to learn new things about her old friend.

Maeri traced her finger against the counter, still not raising her head. “They’re hot. I don’t want to get burned,” she mumbled through her excuse.

“You have a lot of fears,” Sunggyu suddenly spoke out. Maeri finally raised her head to glare at the teacher. Maybe Woohyun was a bad influence on him (or maybe he was more like Woohyun than she thought).

“She’s a coward,” his friend added.

Maeri didn’t even hear Woohyun’s slight because she was still focused on the man at the entrance of the room. She slunk out of Woohyun’s arm and marched up to Sunggyu. “How would you like sticking a bare hand into something scalding hot, hm? Let’s see!” she challenged. Maeri gripped the teacher by the wrist and pulled him towards the oven.

“Ah! What are you doing?” Sunggyu fought back (more in word than in action). His voice grew louder as Maeri yanked open the oven door and was trying to put his hand inside, “No! No, no, no, no! Stop it!”

“Sunggyu-ssi,” Hani’s calm voice broke into the hysteria. She appeared by their side with an amused smile on her face. “It’s not even on,” she pointed out.

Sunggyu pulled his hand out of the ice cold oven and cradled it in his other hand as if it were burned. “This isn’t funny,” he insisted as the other three were on the verge of laughter.

Woohyun, being a good friend, tried his best to hold back his laughter (he ultimately failed) as he suggested, “How about we break up into teams. Scaredy cats can get out of the kitchen and find the Christmas decorations.” He turned to his fiancée. “You’re the only one who can remember where they are.”

“True,” Maeri agreed with a nod. She reached behind her back and began to untie the apron. “There are too many chefs in the kitchen anyway,” she reasoned as she folded the apron in her hands. To be honest, she was slightly happy to give up her baking duty. More often than not, the hot kitchen led to hot tempers and fights. While she and Woohyun could easily brush off arguments, she didn’t want to subject their two guests to them any further. However, she wasn’t going to leave until she warned her friend. Maeri clutched the apron in her hands as she whispered into Hani’s ear, “Be careful. He can be _very_ bossy while cooking. It’s annoying.”

Hani’s gaze flitted over to the man in question. A determined expression fixed on her face. “I think I can handle him,” she responded back in a low tone.

Maeri was about to lean in and tell her something else, but she was interrupted by the sudden reappearance of her little brother. He had not only washed his hands, but he smelled as if he bathed his whole body in Woohyun’s cologne and his hair was now neatly styled. Jonghyun came into the kitchen yelling,  “I’m ready! I’m ready!” like he was afraid of missing out on anything. Maeri looked over at Woohyun, seeing if he came to the same conclusion: Jonghyun was smitten with Hani. Woohyun stared back sternly and mouthed carefully to her, ‘Don’t say a word.’ Jonghyun wouldn’t forgive them if they even breathed a word about his sudden affections.

‘I won’t,’ Maeri mouthed back. Instead of making fun of her little brother, she opted to encourage him instead. “Here, Jonghyun,” she said as she gave him her apron. “I’ve been dismissed from the kitchen by Chef Nam and put on decoration duty. You’ll have to take my spot. Make the Yoos proud,” Maeri urged.

Jonghyun straightened up and gave a mock salute to his sister. “Will do!” he exclaimed. With apron in hand, he rushed over to Woohyun’s side and began putting on the apron while casting a sheepish glance at the pretty librarian. Maeri bit her lip as her eyes lingered on the scene for a few more seconds. The trio was already gathering their ingredients, moving on without her. _Without us_ , she corrected her thought as she felt Sunggyu’s presence behind her. She smiled at herself, gathering strength again. _That’s right. We don’t need five people to bake a cake. But we do need five to decorate a tree. And the quicker we get the stuff, the quicker we can do it._

Maeri spun on her heels, facing Sunggyu with a determined look. And in return, he was confused. “Follow me,” she beckoned, gesturing at him to follow her out of the kitchen. They walked down into the hallways. She then stopped suddenly, and Sunggyu crashed into her back. “Sorry,” she quickly apologized for not warning him earlier. Maeri then pointed directly above her head, at the latch leading to the attic. “The decorations and tree are somewhere up there.”

The string to pull down the stairs to the attic was slightly out of her reach. Maeri tried jumping a couple of times to grab at it, but it grazed her fingertips every time. Then a hand fell onto her shoulder. “Let me,” Sunggyu offered. Being significantly taller than her, he was able to grab the string with ease. However, he pulled the string too roughly, and the latch opened, sending the stair clambering down and the duo jumping backwards.

“Thank you,” Maeri spoke through pants. Her heart was racing in her chest at the scare, and it didn’t slow down once she realized she’d have to climb the shaky staircase to the attic. Maybe she did have too many fears. Maybe she was a coward. Sunggyu must’ve sensed her hesitation and growing fear (it wasn’t hard as her feet were practically glued to the floor). He took the lead and climbed the staircase first, slowly because he was just as much of a coward as she was. But it was because he was a coward too, Maeri felt encouraged as she watched him climb up. Her competitiveness was also triggered. If Sunggyu could do it, she could too. And she did.

Sunggyu waited for her at the top of the stairs. “It’s kind of creepy up here,” he remarked with a half-smile. He then took a step forward and immediately retched, “Ew.” He pulled off something from his face, grimaced, and tried to drop it. “Spider’s web.”

While Sunggyu was struggling to get the web from his fingers, Maeri found the light and turned it on. She fought back a laugh when she saw her companion under the light. Because he had paved the wave earlier, his head and shoulders were coated in webs. Not wanting to raise an alarm, Maeri told him in as calm of a voice as she could muster, “You have some here.” She gestured to her own shoulders. Sunggyu frowned deeply as he caught sight of them and retched further as he tried to get rid of them. While he was doing so, Maeri walked closer to him. “Here too,” she quietly spoke as she gently batted away at the web clinging to his hair with the back of her hand. She had to get on the tips of her toes to do so, and her hand just barely touched his head.

“Oh. Thank you,” Sunggyu muttered in return.

Maeri quickly stepped away and began her search for the decorations. Her eyes flittering about in every direction. “Yea, it’s a bit creepy. I think it might be haunted,” she admitted, walking forward carefully with a bent back, inspecting the boxes as she passed by. “But…” she held that word until she found it. “Aha!” She found the corner with the decorations, and she took a wreath into her hands. “It has the Christmas cheer we need,” she finished and placed the wreath around the other’s neck. Sunggyu looked down at the wreath and then up at Maeri, probably wondering when she’d lost her mind. But she paid no heed to his stares and only put a box of ornaments into his hands. “Bring this down, and I’ll send you down the rest,” she ordered.

“Okay,” Sunggyu seemed to have given in, but he put the box down. He opened it up and took some tinsel that was laying inside. He stood up and sprinkled it over Maeri with a cheeky grin. “You need some cheer too,” he reasoned as he picked up the box. Soon after, he was already carefully descending the stairs.

Maeri gingerly touched the tinsel decorating her hair. A warmness gripped her heart. “I do.”

* * *

“What’s next?” Woohyun asked eagerly as he wiped the flour from his hands.

“I need to whisk the eggs for a minute or so,” Hani answered. Since it was her recipe, Hani had taken charge in the kitchen. It had been a long time since Woohyun had to answer to someone else in the kitchen. But he didn’t mind it, not one bit. He had accepted his new role as assistant baker easily. And Hani made it easy, gently commanding him, giving him and Jonghyun encouragement, and not telling him to be quiet when he randomly burst into a Christmas carol. It was a nice change.

Hani took the bowl in one hand and the whisk in the other. Her hair was falling down in front of her face, in the way. She tried blowing it out of the way or tucking it behind her ear, but the stubborn strands would fall away again. Woohyun had been noticing the struggle for awhile. But maybe Hani didn’t. Either she was the ‘suffering in silence’ type like Maeri could be, or she was too focused on the task at hand to notice her hair. In any case, being the good assistant he was, Woohyun was going to help out in this regard too.

“Hold on,” he mumbled as he raced out of the kitchen. He went straight into the bathroom and pulled open a drawer. From his years of rummaging around the Yoo house, he knew it well, like it was his own. He even knew where Maeri and her mother kept their hair ties (and back in his youth when he had long hair, he’d borrowed/stolen some too). He grabbed a hair tie with a triumphant smile and entered the kitchen once again.

Hani was already whisking. Her hair was cascading down in front of her face, making her look like Sadako. He chuckled at the sight, earning a curious glance from Jonghyun who had been put on cookie duty. Woohyun shook his head, silently telling the younger not to mind, and walked behind Hani. The woman was still set on her task, whisking quickly.

Now Woohyun had done this many times before for Maeri and hadn’t thought much of it. In retrospect, he probably should have. But it wasn’t until his fingers were threading through Hani’s hair when Woohyun realized how different this was from when he’d do it for Maeri. The texture of the hair was different. It was much thicker than Maeri’s and a bit coarser, but it made it easier for Woohyun to tie it back. Before he knew it, he was gently pulling her hair through the tie one last time, mumbling, “Here we go.”

“Uh...thank you,” Hani muttered as her hand went back to touch her new ponytail, abandoning the whisking all together. The eggs whites were still flat in the bowl. She brought her ponytail over her shoulder, revealing the nape of her neck. Woohyun’s gaze fixed on that. He’d never thought that part to be necessarily pretty before but now...His eyes travelled down the line of her shoulder. It really was at the perfect height, her shoulders. If Maeri were this height, Woohyun could easily hug her from behind and rest his chin comfortably on them. But Maeri wasn’t.

A clatter rang through the kitchen. Woohyun whipped his head and saw Jonghyun picking up the cookie cutter that he’d dropped. “So Jonghyun, how goes the cookie cutting?” he asked in a teasing tone.

Jonghyun looked disgruntled as he grumbled, “Almost done.”

Hani was whisking away again but she sent a bright grin to her youngest assistant. “You’re doing a great job,” she urged him.

A blush crept onto Jonghyun’s cheeks again. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand as he mumbled sheepishly, “Uh, thank you, Hani-ssi.”

Woohyun grinned at the sight and picked up a tray full of cookies from Jonghyun’s side. “I’ll just put these in the oven,” he announced. As he made his way to the oven, he whispered lowly to Hani, “Looks like you have an admirer.”

“Ah yes.” Hani bit her lip and shot a glance at Jonghyun who was gingerly peeling away the dough from the cookie cutter. “And lucky me. He’s a cutie,” she whispered.

Woohyun frowned as he opened up the oven door. “And 12,” he pointed out. But Hani only shrugged and smiled coyly in response. Then she returned back to whisking. The eggs were now sticking to her whisk. Woohyun closed the oven door and tugged at the collar of his sweater. They had been baking for a while, and the kitchen was growing hot. Woohyun was feeling a bit too warm.

“Hani-ssi, will you help me decorate these?” Jonghyun asked, pointing to the cookies that had just cooled.

“Of course!” she replied. The librarian pushed her bowl aside and sat down at the stool next to her smitten assistant. The two began frosting the cookies, and Jonghyun was casting shy glances at the woman sitting next to him. Then he scooted closer to her as he was reaching for the frosting. Woohyun raised an eyebrow. _Where did you learn this, dongsaeng?_

“I want to help too,” Woohyun offered. He pulled up a stool and squeezed right in between the two. There was _just_ enough room for him. And it was the ideal location, with cookies and frosting easily within reach. As he was about to grab for a cookie, an elbow dug into his side. “What?” he grunted at Jonghyun.

“What about the cake, _hyung_?” Jonghyun reminded him as he narrowed his eyes on the elder. His glare was eerily like his sister’s. The timer was ringing, signaling that the cake was finished baking.

_What timing_ , Woohyun cursed in his head. “Fine,” he yielded, getting up and retrieving the cake from the oven. Being an assistant was beginning to become a burden.

“Thank you, Woohyun-ah!” Hani chirped from her seat.

It was a burden, but it still had it’s perks.

* * *

Hani had just finished frosting the cake when Maeri came in to announce that the tree was ready to decorate. She and Sunggyu looked as if they already had a head start, decorating themselves with ornaments. There was tinsel in Maeri hair and ornaments dangling in both of their ears. Sunggyu quickly took his out when he noticed Woohyun staring at it. But these kind of antics were nothing new. When they were 18, bored, and watching a sleeping baby, Maeri had wrapped Woohyun from head to toe in Christmas lights. It had been his idea. And Woohyun hadn’t thought of that moment in years.

Something about this Christmas Eve was nostalgic. Sure they were doing the same things that they’ve always done, but in recent years, it felt like they were just going through the motions. This year, however, it felt like they were doing everything for the first time like he and Maeri did 12 years ago. There was a renewed sense of Christmas magic. _Hani and Sunggyu should’ve joined us years ago_ , Woohyun caught himself thinking. It was a silly thought since the four of them had only been acquainted (or reacquainted in Hani’s case) this year. But that thought kept occurring throughout the evening. Why? He didn’t know.

He thought it again when he held the ladder for Hani when she put the angel on top of the tree, while Maeri and Jonghyun were arguing over who owned the Iron Man ornament and consequently who’d get to hang it. Sunggyu settled the dispute by hanging it up while they weren’t looking.

He thought of it once more as they were admiring the tree, fully decorated. It had been years since they’d decorated a tree like this, filling every nook and cranny. In the past years, the three of them would grow weary of decorating and throw the angel on top, claiming it to be finished when there were still open gaps all over the tree. But now, with the addition of Sunggyu and Hani, the tree looked like it belonged in a Christmas movie.

Everything was more magical with those two. And Woohyun expected that next activity would go just as well. He was already grinning at the prospect of it as he handed out the sheets of paper.

“What’s this?” Sunggyu asked as he took the paper from his friend.

But he didn’t get an answer right away, at least not from Woohyun. “No way,” Hani blurted out, gazing at the piece of paper in amazement. “You guys still do this? I did this too when I was young.”

“I know. I kind of stole this tradition from you,” Maeri responded with a sheepish grin as she handed out pens. She sat on the couch across from Sunggyu. “I thought it was cute,” she admitted.

“What is it?” Sunggyu asked again as he took a pen from the other.

“We’re writing letters to Santa,” Jonghyun finally gave him the answer that he was looking for. His tone wasn’t as excited as the others. It sounded as if he was being unwillingly dragged to do this.

“Seriously?” Sunggyu questioned. Jonghyun nodded with a heavy sigh, and then began to quickly jot down his letter, getting it over with.

“How else will he know what to get us for Christmas?” Woohyun challenged. Sunggyu looked up, meeting his friend’s gaze. Woohyun was serious about this. He then glanced down at Jonghyun, hoping that Sunggyu would catch his drift. And he did. Jonghyun still believed in Santa Claus. Now, it was up to him to play along.

“Ah true,” Sunggyu exclaimed. “Of course he wouldn’t know unless we tell him.” He was over-acting his role, even making Hani snicker at him. It didn’t matter. Sunggyu didn’t want to be blamed for making Jonghyun lose his faith. Woohyun and Maeri would never forgive him for that.

But playing along also required him to write a letter to Santa, which he hadn’t done since he was younger than Jonghyun. He didn’t even know where to begin, how to address it, let alone what to ask for (he figured that Santa couldn’t give him what he really wanted anyway). He leaned across the couch and whispered to Maeri, “What are you writing?” He tried to peer over her shoulder to read her letter, but she quickly protected it with her body, bringing the letter closely to her chest.

“Are you Santa?” Maeri asked him.

Sunggyu chuckled as he answered. “No.”

“Then you can’t read it. It’s for his eyes only,” she retorted, sticking out her tongue. But she immediately retracted it and crumbled up the paper in her hands. Sunggyu watched her, confused, as she tossed the paper onto the floor with a sigh. “Hyun, can I have another piece of paper?” she begged.

Woohyun got up from his spot on the floor and handed her another. “Don’t know what you want this year?” he guessed.

“I think I want too much,” Maeri answered, her brows furrowed in concern.

“Don’t get greedy or Santa will give you coal,” Woohyun teased as he sat back down onto the floor. Maeri laughed dryly as she tapped her pen against the paper.

_Don’t be greedy,_ those words rang through Sunggyu’s head as he looked down at his own blank paper. He quickly jotted down things that he didn’t consider to be too much, just a new gaming system with the latest games and a new tv to go along with it. That was a lot less greedy than what he originally wanted to write down.

“Done!” It wasn’t him but Jonghyun who announced that. The preteen glanced at his older sister. “Can I order dinner?” he asked.

“Sure,” Maeri gave in, and her little brother pumped his fist excitedly before scampering off into the kitchen. Once he was out of sight, Maeri immediately turned towards Hani. “Unnie, are you done too?” she asked her.

“Yes, I didn’t write too much,” the other answered, folding her letter neatly.

“Can you watch him? He’ll order enough food for an army,” Maeri begged. It was no evident to everybody that Jonghyun would listen to anything Hani asked him too. Hani even got him to sing carols with them, which he refused to do last year.

“Sure thing,” Hani readily agreed and followed the youngest into the kitchen.

“I’m done too,” Sunggyu announced, placing his letter on the table face-up for all to see (and Maeri and Woohyun did read it after he left). He followed the other two into the kitchen while asking, “Are the cookies done?”

“Can’t figure out what you want either?” Maeri asked her fiancé as they both were hovering over Sunggyu’s letter.

“Yea,” Woohyun admitted. His gaze went from Maeri, to the trio in the kitchen, back to Maeri again. “It’s because I have everything I want.”

Maeri scoffed, “You’re cheesy.”

Woohyun got up and joined Maeri on the couch. He poked her in the cheek with his pen. “You like it,” he teased.

Maeri smiled, letting the pen in her cheek sink into one of her dimples. “Sometimes,” she admitted. She then gazed down at the paper in her hands. Maybe she had everything too. _Don’t be greedy_.

* * *

“Oh no!” Hani yelped, covering her mouth. Her cheeks were filled to the brim, as were Jonghyun’s and Sunggyu’s. After ordering dinner, the trio couldn’t contain their hunger and began eating the cookies to tide them over until the dinner arrived. Little did they know how hungry they actually were. The plates were almost empty now. “We almost ate all of them, and we don't have time to make more! Sunggyu-ssi!” she yelled at the other who was about to bite the head off of another gingerbread man. “Stop eating them!”

“Sorry,” Sunggyu apologized as he gently set the cookie down.

Jonghyun picked it back up and bit into it. The two adults gasped. “It's okay,” Jonghyun spoke through his mouthful of cookie. “It's not like Santa's going to eat them anyway.”

Sunggyu nudged him with his shoulder. “You know?”

Jonghyun nodded, studying the cookie in his hand and resting his head in his free hand. “I found out three years ago,” he revealed with a sigh. He then perked up, eyes wide with fright. “But I don't want to tell noona and hyung,” he begged. “They have so much fun with it. And to be honest...I think those two still believe in him.”

“Really?” Hani asked.

“Yea, just look at them,” Jonghyun urged them. And they did. Maeri and Woohyun were now picking up all of the letters and carefully stuffing them into envelopes labeled “To: Santa Claus at the North Pole” on them. Maeri took them and set the letters by the fireplace while Woohyun was placing a glass and plate on a small table also by the fireside. It was for Santa’s milk and cookies. Jonghyun rolled his eyes at the sight. “Dorks,” he said that word with affection.

“Then maybe we should play along for their sakes,” Hani suggested, gathering up the remaining cookies on the plate. “These are for Santa,” she announced, sending a warning glance at the other two. She then took the plate and walked it over to the couple by the fireplace.

Jonghyun snickered. “What?” Sunggyu urged him to reveal what was so funny.

“You two are dorks too,” he revealed, laughing in full force now.

“Huh?!"

* * *

For dinner, Jonghyung, even under supervision, had ordered too much, but that was fine because they all ate too much as well. It was the holidays, and celebrating the holidays meant eating too much and then laying around the house with a bulging belly, which was what they were doing now, laying around the living room, rubbing their full bellies. Sleep was quickly descending upon them, but the night was still young. And Woohyun and Maeri still had things planned to do. Unfortunately, they had planned on doing different things.

“Doesn't anyone want to see the lights in the park?” Maeri asked, sitting herself back up on the couch. A walk was exactly what she needed now to help her digest the massive amounts of food swirling in her stomach. Sadly, her suggestion was met by groans.

“No, not really,” Woohyun grumbled from the other side of the couch. He, however, was fully laying down with his legs over Maeri’s lap.

“Why not?” Maeri argued with a pout. She slapped his legs. “It's tradition.”

“Yea, but it's boring,” Jonghyun chimed in. He was sprawled out on the floor, face down so that his voice was muffled as he spoke. The preteen then turned onto his side, now facing his sister. “And it's the same every year,” he added.

“Nuh uh!” Maeri quickly countered, shaking her head. “Last year they had the lights in the shape of ice-skating penguins.” She glanced over at the man besides her. “Even _you_ said that was cool,” she reminded Woohyun.

Woohyun groaned as he sat up and removed his legs from the other’s lap. “Okay, so almost the same every year,” he amended “But I still don’t want to go.”.

“But it's tradition,” Maeri repeated a bit more forcibly, as if raising her tone would make her more convincing. “We can get hot chocolate,” she tried to entice the other, but ultimately failed.

“We have that here,” Woohyun combatted.

“And it's freezing cold outside,” Jonghyun added, crawling closer to literally be on his hyung’s side.

Maeri hated moments like this. When Woohyun and Jonghyun opposed her like this, she was at a loss. She couldn’t convince the other two even if she begged, which she has done before and it was only to their amusement. However, in the past, Maeri was only just a friend to Woohyun. Now, they were a couple; they were going to get married. And that should change some things, right? Maeri exaggerated her pout and stared down Woohyun with large, doleful eyes. “But...penguins...tradition,” she stammered in a cute voice.

Woohyun was all for change, but not in Maeri’s favor. “We can start a new tradition,” he proposed. He gestured to the other two in the room who’d silently been watching the debate. “We haven't had noona and Sunggyu celebrate with us before, so let's do something we haven't done before.”

“Yea, something that's actually fun,” of course, Jonghyun agreed with his beloved hyung. “Let's play jenga!” he exclaimed, looking at Woohyun excitedly. The elder nodded emphatically in agreement and gave his dongsaeng a high-five.

Hani finally spoke up, “Sounds like fun.”

Like a knife through her heart, her beloved unnie sided with her opposers. Maeri didn’t foresee this coming. Wasn’t there anyone on her side? Maeri looked over at Hani. “But I always lose at that game,” she revealed. Maybe Hani would at least take pity on her and suggest another game. But the librarian’s lips remained in a sealed smile as she avoided Maeri’s gaze and opted to look at the teacher sitting next to her.

“Not my fault that you're a sore loser,” Woohyun tore Maeri’s attention away from the other two. But then he directed the conversation to the only person who hadn’t weighed in yet, “Come on, Gyu, what do you say?”

“Actually,” Sunggyu started. His eyes were fixed on the floor as he gave his opinion, “I wouldn't mind seeing the lights. I haven't seen them before.”

“Really?!” Maeri exclaimed excitedly, jumping off from the couch. Her smile was back on her face and wider than ever. She thought she’d been defeated, but finally she had an ally. “If we go now, it'll only take about...half an hour,” she guessed as she watched her ally stand up along with her. Maeri glanced back down to Woohyun and Jonghyun. “You guys can play a game, and we'll be able to catch the next one. And you can beat me then.”

Woohyun shrugged. “As long as I kick your butt at some point tonight. I'm happy,” he joked.

“Kay!” Maeri happily accepted the threat of a future butt-kicking if it meant that her wish would come true right now. She whipped her head around to face her ally. “Let's go!” she beckoned him, eagerly waving at him to follow her to the front door.

“Bye!” Hani waved as they walked past. “Have fun!”

“You too!” Maeri said back and then left her friend with a warning, “Watch out for those two boys. They can be heartless when it comes to games.”

Woohyun rolled his eyes. “She only says that because she’s a sore loser,” he combatted. But he tried to cover the sting by putting a bright smile on his face and giving his fiancee some sweet words before she left, “Bye, honey! Stay warm!”

“Okay, bye sweetie,” Maeri responded back with just as much false sweetness and left the room with the teacher on her tail.

“Are you really that bad?” Sunggyu asked when they were putting on their shoes and coats at the door.

Maeri let out a deep sigh as she buttoned up her coat. “Seriously, it's the only reason why they even like that game, because I lose,” she grumbled under her breath. “The both of them team up against me every time.”

“Those two are really close, like real brothers,” he commented as he shrugged on his own coat.

“Yea,” Maeri muttered as she shifted her gaze from her buttons to the ceiling. “I wish they weren't sometimes.” Her head fell back down, “Wait, that sounds bad,” she quickly retracted. Maeri cast a nervous glance over at the other, hoping that he wasn’t judging her for what she’d just said. But, much to her relief, he was nodding along in understanding. _An ally indeed_.

“I know what you mean, though,” Sunggyu said, tugging at the sleeves of his coat. “He's _your_ brother. It's like how my noona is spending the holiday with her in-laws. I know why she is, but...I still feel a little upset,” he confessed. His smile looked more like a grimace than anything. And all of the sudden, Maeri felt guilty. She’d lost her perspective. Here was Sunggyu, spending his first Christmas without his parents or his sister, and Maeri was lamenting because she wasn’t her brother’s favorite. And although she’d been whining like a baby over it, Sunggyu was still sympathetic, which only made her feel worse. She couldn’t imagine how the other truly felt right now.

But Maeri didn’t want to breach that issue with him, not now (she didn’t even know if she could). Instead she brought the conversation back to her own petty problems, “Just promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“You won't try to steal my brother too,” Maeri joked with slender smile as she put on her mittens.

Sunggyu scoffed, “I'm not even sure the kid likes me. He keeps sticking to Woohyun like they’re glued together.”

“Well, Jonghyun just misses him,” Maeri excused her little brother, and it didn’t help that Jonghyun tended to be shy around strangers (with the exception of Hani, his new crush). However, Maeri knew her little brother well enough to know something else, “Besides he likes you. I can tell.”

“Really? Why?” Sunggyu challenged her in disbelief. The two of them hardly interacted so Sunggyu’s skepticism was warranted. But Maeri shrugged in response. She just had a feeling about it all. It was hard to explain. Sunggyu took that shrug as a positive response. “It's probably because I'm a cool guy.”

Maeri snickered and pulled her hat on. “Yea, keep telling yourself that.”

“What?” Sunggyu shot her a glare, which quickly softened as he challenged her, “You don't think I'm cool?”

Maeri took a step back and looked him up and down, jokingly analyzing the other. After a few seconds she reached her conclusion, “Well I know that you're going to be _really_ cool if you don't bring a hat.” It was below freezing outside, and the teacher had only his coat and gloves on.

“Don't need it. We won't be gone for that long,” he argued, thinking that he could last half an hour in the cold night. Maeri rolled her eyes and bent down to tie her shoes. Sunggyu was losing his patience and began bouncing on the balls of his feet. They’d spent too much time dawdling by the door. “Come on, let's go. How long does it take for you to put on shoes?” he whined.

“Just one more second,” Maeri begged as she tightened the knot in her laces. But she wasn’t finished yet. She reached into a box and pulled out something only to quickly stuff it into her pockets. “Done!” she announced, jumping up onto her feet. “Now let's go!”

* * *

“Hyung, why don't you marry Hani-ssi?”

Woohyun looked up from the box in his hands at his dongsaeng in the doorway. They were in Maeri’s old room, which was now being used to store miscellaneous things, including the games. It had taken him a while in the mess, but Woohyun finally found the jenga game when Jonghyun asked him that question. Woohyun just chuckled. “Because I'm marrying your sister. What you don't want me as a brother-in-law?” he searched for a reason behind the younger’s strange suggestion.

His dongsaeng shook his head. “You're already my brother,” he replied.

Woohyun laughed again at the younger’s words. Jonghyun was becoming more like him everyday, even in speech. But the younger still didn’t reveal the reason behind his question. “Then why Hani?” Woohyun tried the direct approach.

“She's pretty and nice,” Jonghyun praised shyly and lowly as if Hani could overhear them from rooms over.

Woohyun walked up to him and pushed him on the shoulder. “Hey, your sister is pretty and nice too,”he reminded Jonghyun.

The younger frowned. “Not as much as Hani,” he argued.

Woohyun sighed. Jonghyun had been favoring Hani (and himself) too much today. He knew that Maeri was more disheartened by it than amused. And he was well aware that Maeri was envious of his and Jonghyun’s closeness (hard not to when her eyes practically glowed green). It was time that they were both more considerate about her feelings (even the irrational ones). He wagged a finger in front of Jonghyun’s face and chided, “Be nice to your noona.”

“Fine,” Jonghyun gave in with a huff.

Woohyun grinned and wrapped his arm around the younger’s shoulders as they both left the room. “Besides, if I don’t marry Hani, maybe you can,” he pointed out in a cheeky tone.

But the joke was lost on Jonghyun, who took it as a real possibility. His eyes grew round and his smile, broader. “True!”

* * *

Maeri wished that she’d thought this through a bit more. She fiddled with her mittens as they walked by a display of twinkling lights in the shape of stars darting across the park like shooting stars. It was completely silent. The only thing to pass from their mouths were white puffs of air and the occasional “oohs” and “aahs.” Maeri winced. She’d been too excited that someone finally agreed to do her favorite tradition and see the Christmas light displays at the park, and she neglected to realize that it meant that she and Sunggyu were going to be alone, together, together alone in the park at night under the glow of twinkling light in completely awkward silence. She sighed. Things had been going well today too, but they also weren’t alone often. Whenever they were, they had a task to concentrate on. But now, there was nothing to distract them. Now all they had to concentrate on was each other. _And the lights_. _Stupid lights_.  Woohyun was right. They were the same every year. Why was she so set on seeing the stupid lights?

Maeri decided to take a break from looking at the stupid, blinding lights and suggested that they buy hot chocolate from the vendor. At least that will give them something more to add to their conversation, “hot” and “yummy” in addition to the “aahs.” Sunggyu readily agreed probably because, like Maeri predicted, he could no longer stand the cold. The tips of his ears were a dark red, his nose was rosey, and his hands were tucked into his sleeves. The hot chocolate was what they both needed. And fortunately for Maeri, it became more of a conversation starter that she had expected.

While walking away from the vendor, Maeri had accidentally tipped her cup and the hot chocolate spilled onto her mittens. “Crap!” she cursed and stopped in her tracks, careful to not spill anymore

“What?” Sunggyu gasped and stopped besides her.

“I spilled,” Maeri murmured, still stopped in a hunched over position.

Sunggyu scanned her up and down. “Did you get burned?”

“No, my mittens protected me,” she answered as she slowly straightened back up. Not a drop more was spilled. She smiled triumphantly until she noticed the chocolate stains on her pink mittens. “Oh,” she gasped. A frown fixed on her face as she held up her mitten-clad hand to the other, showing off the stain. “But now they're ruined."

Sunggyu chuckled and lowered her hand. "You can wash them,” he reminded her.

Of course, where was her head? Maeri tried to laugh it off, "Haha, right...Crap!" she cursed again and froze in her step. She felt the hot chocolate sink again into her mittens.

"Seriously? Again?!” Sunggyu sounded exasperated, and maybe a bit amused. He stepped up to her side. “You can't even walk and drink at the same time."

Maeri straightened up again and gazed down at the cup in her hands. A third of it was gone already. "It might be the mittens," she muttered as an excuse.  

"You might be a klutz,” Sunggyu retorted with a chuckle. He walked in front of her and looked down at the cup in her hands. Without a second thought, he took it from her. “Come on. Let's sit over there," he said as he nodded over to a park bench that was in front of a Christmas Tree display. Maeri muttered an ‘okay’ and wrung her hands together as she followed Sunggyu to the bench. He sat down first and waited for Maeri to be fully seated and situated before handing her cup back. He must’ve been tired of her spilling. Maeri muttered a ‘thank you’ and then they both turned to gaze at the display.

This was Maeri’s favorite of all the lights in the park. It was the biggest and the brightest. It was so bright that she could see the Christmas tree from her window at home. But nothing was like seeing it in person. If Woohyun was here, he’d remark about how it was the same old thing and want to move on. Maeri, however, took comfort in things like this that didn’t change, that always stayed the same year in and year out. It was probably why she was found of antiques, and tradition.

"Oh,” Sunggyu muttered. It was different from his usual ‘oohs.’ He was surprised. Maeri glanced over at him and was surprised to see that Sunggyu wasn’t even looking at the tree, but down at the bench. “I have been here before," he confessed, half-believing in it himself.

Maeri turned her body to face him. "Really? When?" she asked. Had he seen this display before?

Sunggyu raised his head. "When I was 18, I kind of ran away from home,” he admitted

" _You_ ran away?” Maeri challenged. She couldn’t imagine Sunggyu running away. He was so straight-laced, so...perfect. Woohyun didn’t even run away, and he was more impulsive. But Sunggyu cast the doubts from her head with a short nod. “Rebel,” she remarked. “Why?"

Now he finally turned to the Christmas tree as he told her, "I wanted to be a singer, but my parents didn't approve. So I secretly went to do auditions in Seoul."

"How did it go?"

Sunggyu whipped his head to face her and smirked. "I'm a famous singer now, didn't you know?" he joked.

"So not too well, huh?” Maeri surmised and she dropped her gaze back to the drink in her hands. It was growing cold. “Sorry."

"Yea, it didn't go too well. And after running out of money, I somehow ended up here,” Sunggyu said and looked around the park. It must’ve looked like an entirely different place now under the nightfall and lights. “I remember the pond,” he stated, pointing at the pond behind the tree. And then his finger fell down and traced a scar etched into the bench. “And I did this."

Maeri followed his finger and watched it redraw the sad face drawn into the bench. "That's sad," she thought out loud.

Sunggyu snorted. "Well, I wasn't very happy," he retorted. Maeri raised her gaze, about to say something else in response, but saw that Sunggyu was smiling. And it wasn’t the type of smile that he had whenever she said something silly or stupid, thoughtless. This smile was warmer, fonder, as if it were a nice memory.

Maeri felt one forming on her own face. "Then why are you smiling?" She asked.

Sunggyu bit his lip in thought, trying to restrain his smile, before replying, "When I was hungry, tired, and thinking about spend the night on this bench, a girl came up to me and gave me food and enough money to go home."

Maeri’s jaw dropped. "That's so..."

Sunggyu cut her off and tried to fill in the blank. "Nice? Sweet? Incredible?"

"Weird."

"Huh?"

"Gyu, that was me," Maeri spoke slowly as the realization sunk in. _We met already. We met 13 years ago. How? Why? What?_ Maeri’s mind suddenly went back to when they first met (again) at his parents’ home, when Sunggyu was sitting dejectedly on his parents’ bed. There was a reason why that scene was so familiar. It was because she’d seen it before. She’d seen _him_ before. _Oh my god_ , she cursed in her mind. She had acted so silly back then.

While Maeri was going through a crisis, Sunggyu was silent. But then he broke it,  "Eh, you're lying.” He gave her a nudge, trying to snap her out of it. But Maeri remained still, slowly shaking her head. “Aish. Don't you know it's wrong to lie?"

Maeri finally snapped out of it and snapped back, "I'm not!” She stared Sunggyu in the eye, trying to convince him with her gaze. But instead she got caught up in his eyes, his face, his entire being. The image of his 17 year-old self came to her as clear as day. _You look the exact same. How could I not remember?_ But the other couldn’t recollect her yet, so it was her turn to jog his memory. “I remember. Hani-unnie and I were stopping by the convenience store after our practice. On our way there, I saw...you, looking really sad,” she told him. Her eyes fell back down to the sad face on the bench. “So when I left, I gave you the rest of my food and money. I left it there,” she ended by nodding over to the bench beside them.

“Woah,” Sunggyu muttered like he did when they were looking at light displays earlier. “You weren't lying."

Maeri faced him again. "I told you," she spoke lowly. She tried to have more strength in her voice, but Sunggyu was so quiet. His face was so blank. Maeri wondered if she ruined the memory for him. His kind stranger ended up being her. Was he disappointed?

"I'm sorry,” was all he could say in response.

Maeri held out her hand. Sunggyu cocked his head as he stared at it. "You owe me money,” she joked as she shook her hand, demanding repayment.

"Yah!” Sunggyu yelled with a smile on his face. He slapped her hand away. “I paid hundreds to save you from some creepy old man," he reminded her.

Maeri giggled sheepishly and put her hand back into her pocket.  "Right. Thanks for that again."

"You're welcome.” Sunggyu then groaned as he lept off from the bench. “Now let's go look at the rest of the lights. I'm getting cold." He sniffed loudly as he rubbed his hands up and down his arms.

Maeri smirked. She foresaw this happening. "I told you to wear a hat, but _no._ You didn't need it," she teased as she followed him off the bench and down the sidewalk.

"Yea yea yea," Sunggyu muttered under his breath before sniffing loudly again (maybe his teeth were chattering too).

"Wait. Stop," Maeri ordered him as she reached into her pocket.

Sunggyu did so and raised an eyebrow.  "What?"

Maeri pulled out the bright pink earmuffs from her pocket, stood on the tips of her toes as she gently placed the earmuffs over Sunggyu’s cold (almost frost-bitten) ears. After adjusting them a little, she smiled at Sunggyu. "Now we're even."

* * *

On the path out of the park, the way was decorated with a tunnel of lights, flashing different colors as you walked by. This was new, and slightly overwhelming and blinding. Maeri was glad when they were nearing the end of the long tunnel. However, because she was blinded by the light, she didn’t notice wait was waiting for them at the end of the tunnel. There was a pair of ruffians (as Maeri would later describe them) in their early twenties sitting on the benches at the end of the tunnel. One of them hollered, "Woooooo! Look it's a couple underneath the mistletoe!"

Maeri looked around. "Really where? I don't see them," she muttered. In fact, no one else appeared to be around. Her stomach grew heavy as Sunggyu nudged her and pointed above their heads.

"It's us,” he said. And sure enough, when Maeri squinted, she could make out the green sprig hidden among the flashing lights. It was a trap.

"Oh," fell from her parted lips. She just continued to stare up at the mistletoe, at the blinding lights. _How? What do I do?_ She quickly glanced over at Sunggyu. He was blinking madly to get rid of the spots in his eyes from the lights. _Move! Why aren’t you leaving? Are you waiting for something? Am I?_

"What are you waiting for? Kiss her!" Apparently someone else wanted them to move and get on with it. One of the ruffians tried to spur them on.

"Aish! We're not together," Sunggyu shouted right back at them. He sounded frustrated with them already.

"Are you guys related?" the second ruffian jumped off from the bench and asked.

"No," Maeri answered with a snort.  

"Are you gay?"

"No!" Sunggyu yelled with a stamp of his foot.

"Then kiss!" the first ruffian lamely argued, as if there was no other reason why the couple couldn’t kiss.

"Aish! Mind your own business,” Maeri growled at their antagonizers. She then spoke to Sunggyu, “What's with those kids?"

"I don't know,” Sunggyu answered back with a sigh. “Maybe they're too full with the Christmas spirit, if you know what I mean."

"How about we just Christmas hug and get them off our backs?" Maeri blurted out. She then tucked her lips in, forbidding anymore ridiculous suggestions to slip out. She should’ve suggested that they leave or ignore them. What would hugging solve? And what in the world was a Christmas hug anyway?

"Christmas hug? What's that?” Sunggyu found the phrasing odd too. “We hug and say 'Ho ho ho'?" he joked, imitating Santa’s hearty laugh.

Maeri laughed. "If you want. You can jiggle your belly like a bowl full of jelly if you want to too," she proposed.

Sunggyu smirked. "I'll pass."

"Kiss already!" The two ruffians shouted to them in unison.

"Who are those people?” Maeri groaned. She turned to face the dastardly duo, stamping her foot as she did so. “Get a life!"

"Get some!" one of them retorted.

"Okay, he did not just..." Maeri’s complaints stuck in her throat. A hand reached out, pulling her in, and she collided in a firm chest. One hand wrapped around her waist and then another slightly above it, holding her tighter. Maeri’s cheek was pressed against his shoulder, and her eyes darted about as she was slowly absorbing the fact that Sunggyu, Kim Sunggyu, was hugging her. And as she absorbed that, she felt like her being absorbed into the hug as well. She leaned in, on him, pressing her cheek harder into the woollen fibers of his coat. It was rough, but it was warm. Her arms were hanging still and awkwardly at her side. This, this was all she could do for now. All that she would allow herself to do.

And Sunggyu must have reached his limit too. He pulled away and tapped her nose, whispering, “Ho ho ho," before walking down the remainder of the tunnel. Maeri stayed behind for a few seconds, but she made sure to stepped away from the blasted mistletoe lest it land her in even more trouble. Her steps were stumbling as she grabbed her racing heart. She closed her eyes tightly and cursed, “Oh shit.”

_This isn’t good_.

* * *

_This isn’t good_ , Woohyun thought as he assessed the situation in front of him. He walked around the table, studying the slender stack of jenga blocks. Woohyun hadn’t lost this game in years, and he prided himself of being the king of silly games like this. But the king was on the verge of losing his crown, and the usurper was none other than Hani. That librarian used her wiles to coerce Jonghyun into a conspiracy, and the two of them teamed up against Woohyun. Each of them were laying blocks askew so that the stack would be unbalanced and helped each other to find easy blocks to take out. And what help did Woohyun get? None. Instead he got stabbed in the back by his beloved dongsaeng and his...librarian.

“Okay,” Woohyun cheered himself on as he found a block that looked like it could be removed easily. He just had to slow and careful. He just needed steady hands and a focused mind. Woohyun got down onto his knees and began to move the block ever-so-slightly. And the stack shook.

“You’re gonna lose,” Jonghyun baited him. “You’re going to knock it down.”

Woohyun ignored him. A reaction, that’s what the younger wanted, but he wouldn’t get it from Woohyun. He wouldn’t be distracted. He continued to nudge the block out with his finger. It was almost free. If he could do this, then Hani’s turn was next. She’d knocked the stack over, and Woohyun could keep his crown. “Just a little bit more,” he murmured. “Just a little bit...oh!”

A jolt traveled down his spine and down his arms, causing his hand to twitch and knock the stack of jenga blocks over. He lost. He lost the game and his crown. But he couldn’t be concerned with that now. His ear was still hot and it tickled. He slowly raised his hand to the ear which Hani had just blew into. He couldn’t believe it. Even now, looking at her covering her mouth to stifle her giggles, Woohyun couldn’t believe it. He thought that she was always so...innocent, but thinking back on it, Hani was much more mischievous than he gave her credit for.

"I didn't realize that you were _such_ a cheater,” Woohyun said with a half smile.

"I'm not. I swear,” Hani insisted. “But I think you...and Maeri are a bad influence on me." She then turned her attention to the fallen stack and began collecting the fallen pieces. Jonghyun was too busy celebrating his victory to help out. It was the first time Woohyun had ever lost to him and he was relishing in it (the smug look on his face was much like his sister once again).

Woohyun turned his attention back on the woman. "We corrupted you?" he asked as he helped her to stack the blocks back up.

"No, not really,” Hani clarified. She retracted her hands into her lap. “I just only do bad things when you're around. But it's fun,” she added the last part in a quiet voice.

“I’m glad you have fun with us,” Woohyun responded, and he truly was. Because of him and Maeri, Hani was not only having fun but was looking much like her old self again, happier. “You look happier today,” his thoughts slipped past his lips.

Hani’s natural smile twitched at the corner, unsure. “Well...it’s Christmas,” she reasoned. “It’s hard not to be happy on Christmas.”

“True,” Woohyun drawled out. He didn’t know what he did to make her uncomfortable again. It wasn’t his intention; it was far from it. _Why are things so awkward now?_ His eyes searched for the front door. _Where is Maeri? Why isn’t she back yet?_ At least if Maeri was here, he wouldn’t be the one losing. If she was here, maybe Hani would be comfortable. _Where are you?_

* * *

Maeri and Sunggyu returned almost ten minutes later. And just like Woohyun hoped, Hani seemed to relax again, and Woohyun was finally winning again (or at least beating out Maeri and sometimes Sunggyu). With the addition of the two new players, the games not only became more interesting but also louder. It wasn’t surprising that Maeri and Woohyun raised their voices at each other, but Sunggyu was just as loud as the both of them and had a temper to match Maeri’s. And even Hani raised her voice from time to time to just be heard (but her laugh was also the loudest of the five). Their voices become increasingly hoarse after a rousing game of Mafia. Each of them accused the other relentlessly until even the members of the Mafia were confused about what was going on (or maybe the alcohol had a role in that too). Eventually not only their voices grew tired, but their bodies as well. Jonghyun was the first to close his eyes, leaning against the couch with his chin hooked over the armrest. They took it as a sign to end their games and go to bed themselves.

Maeri and Jonghyun allowed their guests to sleep in their bedrooms. And at the moment, Maeri was helping Hani to get situated in her room (whereas Jonghyun just languidly pointed Sunggyu in the general direction of his bedroom. What a good host). Maeri had just finished laying an extra blanket on her bed when Hani asked, “Where are you all going to sleep?”

“The living room,” Maeri answered and in a smaller voice she added, “It’s tradition.” She then let out a deep breath. Traditions were supposed to continue on for years, but she could feel this one slowing to a halt. She sensed this as the night was ending and Woohyun was laying out the futons in the living room for himself, Maeri, and Jonghyun. She was overwhelmed with the premonition that this would be the last time. Maeri gripped the sleeves of her pajama shirt. And this would probably be the last set of matching pajamas that the three of them would wear. She ran her fingers against the flannel fabric gently. “This might be the last time, and I want to treasure it.”

Hani nodded. “Jonghyun is growing up fast,” she remarked. It probably wasn’t appropriate for a twelve year-old to sleep by his older sister’s side anymore, even for one night for the sake of tradition.

_It’s not just that_ , Maeri thought. “We all are, unnie,” she corrected. Her fingers now grazed against the cool surface of her engagement ring, which still felt unfamiliar on her finger. “It’s probably not appropriate anymore for Woohyun and I to act like this either.”

“What do you mean?” Hani questioned as she sat down onto the bed.

“This...isn’t how engaged couples should spend Christmas, is it?” Maeri returned her unnie’s question with one of her own. And this was the thought that haunted her as she saw Woohyun lay out the futons and saw Sunggyu walked down the hall to Jonghyun’s room. What newly engaged couple spends the holiday with a younger brother and friends in tow? Maybe they should’ve gone on a trip like their parents do, instead of doing the same old thing that they did every year. If they’d done that, maybe Maeri wouldn’t feel so low now at the thought of this long-standing tradition ending.

“But I like how you guys celebrate Christmas. It’s fun,” Hani countered, trying hard to fight back a yawn, but ultimately failing. Maeri soon followed suit, yawning herself. _Right, it’s too late to be having this kind of conversation,_ she thought.

“Me too,” Maeri tried to put an end to the conversation. “I don’t want it to change.” _Even though it’s a little too late for that._

Hani sighed. She noticed the concern still painted all over Maeri’s face. “Maeri, you worry too much. Everything will be fine,” she assured her. Her hand took Maeri’s hand and squeezed it tightly for a second before letting it go. It was quick but comforting still. “Go to bed,” Hani urged her. “Everything will be fine.”

“Okay,” Maeri relented and began to leave the room. “Good night, unnie.”

“Good night.”

* * *

It was an hour after he went to bed when Sunggyu realized that he left his phone in the living room on the coffee table. Sunggyu contemplated about just waiting until morning to retrieve it, but he was a hard time falling asleep in a strange bed in a strange home. Maybe having something familiar would help him sleep. So he snuck out of his bed and down the hall as quietly as he could in case the others were asleep.

And they were. When Sunggyu reached the living room, he saw the Yoo siblings and Woohyun laying on the living room floor, curled up on their futons. Jonghyun was sleeping between the couple probably to keep them from doing something inappropriate, but it didn’t matter as the couple appeared to be in a deep sleep. Woohyun was snoring, and Maeri was laying on her stomach with her face squished into the pillow. “Cute,” he mumbled at the sight. The three of them were. They looked like three cubs, hibernating for the winter.

Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw his phone still laying on the coffee table that had been moved next to the couch. Sunggyu carefully laid his feet on the ground as he walked to the table. He didn’t want to wake up any of the sleeping cubs. So when he got to the table without making a single noise, Sunggyu smiled brightly as he picked up his phone. “Oh,” the smile faded as he gasped. He then quickly covered his mouth and his eyes darted over to the trio. They were still sleeping. He let out his breath as he bent down, reaching for thing that surprised it. It was a crumpled piece of paper that had been pushed under the coffee table, but Sunggyu had an idea of what it might be. After all, he’d seen her throw it in that general direction hours earlier. And so with the paper in one hand and the phone in the other, Sunggyu scampered off back into Jonghyun’s bedroom, not caring how much noise he made anymore. It wasn’t like those three were going to wake up anytime soon. They slept like the dead.

When Sunggyu entered the bedroom again, he flipped on the lights and quickly began to straighten out the paper, the letter to be more exact. Sunggyu snorted as he read the first line on the paper. Yes, it was what he thought it was: Maeri’s letter to Santa. And just like Jonghyun had said earlier, it really looked as if she still believed in Santa Claus. Sunggyu mouthed the words as he read the letter. As he continued to read, his cheeky grin faded and his brows furrowed, scarcely believing his eyes. He couldn’t believe it even after his second or tenth read.

**Dear Santa Claus,**

**I'm sorry. I tried to be good this year, but lately, I've been faltering. I haven't been completely faithful to Woohyun, emotionally. It's not like I kissed anybody or anything. ~~But I want~~**

**I really don't deserve any presents :(**  

**But if I could just wish for one thing, it would be that ~~Sunggyu finds a nice girl~~ -**

**~~I’d wish that I wouldn't like him anymore~~ **

**~~I wish that he would like~~ **

**I want boots.**

**I GIVE UP! This letter sucks. I'm writing a new one.**

The letter fell from Sunggyu’s hand as he fell onto the bed listlessly. “Holy sh...she likes me,” he mumbled. He then ran his hand down his face. Now he couldn’t fall asleep, not after knowing this (especially not with her in the next room). “Holy shit,” he cursed again as his head fell against the pillow, hard. “Maybe Santa does exist,” he mused aloud. After all, he’d gotten what he really wanted.

Now what?


	23. "This isn't working." (age 18)

"This isn't working," Maeri whined at the match quickly burned out once again. Their families went to the park after nightfall that day. Maeri and Woohyun were alone on the dock of the pond, as their parents (and baby Jonghyun) were looking on from the benches nearby. Her father had given them paper lanterns to write their hopes and dreams on and so they could send them to the sky to be fulfilled. Graduation was quickly approaching, and her father must've noticed how anxious Maeri had become recently. This was supposed to put her mind at ease and give her another fond high school memory before it was over. But now all Maeri was, was irritated. 

"How about I light it for you?" Woohyun offered, already grabbing the box of matches from her hands. "You're too slow."

 

Maeri made a reach for the matches, which Woohyun easily evaded as he pulled a matchstick from the box. "Don't!" she yelled when Woohyun was about to strike it. Her friend did stop but looked up at her questioningly. "Didn't you hear my dad?" she challenged, hitting him. "I have light my own fire for my dreams to succeed. Or some weird metaphorical thing about the fire representing my passion for my dream. Don't light it!" she shouted at the end when Woohyun finally struck the match.

 

"Why?" Woohyun asked with a chuckle as he lit the lantern. "I don't know what the big deal is. Your dreams are my dreams. This is me helping you achieve them like I will in real life." When he finished, he handed over the lantern to Maeri so that she could lift it into the night sky, which she did. And the two of them watched it fly to the stars in amazement. Even their parents behind them were clapping at the sight. It was beautiful. 

 

"Your so cheesy, just like my dad," Maeri said, after she couldn't make out her lantern anymore. "But thank you," she quickly added, while she grabbed the box of matches. "How about I light yours too?" she offered.

 

"No," Woohyun quickly objected, taking the box away from her. "You're too slow. I want my dreams to happen soon." He was already getting ready to light the lantern as he was saying this, showing his impatience.

 

Mari whistled lowly as she looked at his lantern. It was almost completely covered with his handwriting, scrawling out his hopes. "You have a lot of dreams," she remarked as she tried to read them all. 

 

"I'm a dreamer," Woohyun replied in a distracted voice as he fumbled to take out the match from the box in the darkness.

 

Maeri took this as an opportunity to return the 'favor.' She grabbed his lantern and took the marker out of her pocket. Before Woohyun could yell at her, she gave him her reason, "Let me dream for you." She didn't even wait for him to answer and was already squeezing her small handwriting in the scant space on his lantern.

 

"And you say I'm cheesy," Woohyun teased as he tried to look over her shoulder and read what she was writing. "What is it?"

 

"Jjang!" Maeri exclaimed, putting the finishing touches on the dream and showing it off to the other. "For Maeri and Woohyun to always be friends," she read out loud. "I even circled it so they know that this is the  _most_  important one."

 

Woohyun smirked and took the lantern from her. "Are you sure that this is a dream and not a curse? It seems like one to me," he joked.

 

"Yah!" Maeri yelled as leaned over to hit the other. "You'd be lucky if I'm still your friend."

 

"I know, I know," he responded in a tired voice, moving away from Maeri. He got the match, finally, and began to light his lantern. "You'd be luckier if  _I'm_  still your friend."

 

"Eung," Maeri found herself agreeing to that. Luckily, Woohyun didn't hear it because he was too preoccupied with launching his lantern into the sky. Maeri was quiet as she watched it float off, doing her best to keep her eye on that little circle that she drew until she couldn't see it anymore. 

 

Just last year, she saw Hani lose friends before her final year of high school wrapped up. Nothing even close to that had happened to Maeri yet (thank god), but she was still full of dread, fearing that it might, seeing her dear friends leave her. She couldn't imagine it. And that was why she made the promise with Woohyun on the soccer field. He was her dearest friend, and she feared losing him the most. She hoped that that promise would be enough for them to stay in touch at least until thirty; at that time, they could call each other and laugh at the idea of them getting married (because both of them would surely have met their soul mates by then). But what would happen after thirty, after that promised expired, Maeri didn't know. She hoped from deep within her heart that they'd always be friends, no matter what.


	24. "This isn't working." (age 30)

Woohyun opened his eyes up slowly on Christmas morning, blinking a few times as he took in the sight of the Yoo siblings snuggled up against each other. When they were asleep like that, head thrown back with mouths open wide, their resemblance was unmistakable. They were family. Not just Maeri and Jonghyun, but Woohyun too. The three of them were family, officially recognized by law or not.

Woohyun shivered suddenly. A chill had run through him when he realized that this was the last time the three of them would wake up like this. It had taken him this long for the realization to finally hit him. Yesterday, he’d been so fixated on making new memories. Now he worried about whether he stored those new memories away properly. Now they were at a risk of being forgotten. He should’ve cherished them more.

He propped himself up onto his elbows. But he’d cherish this moment, right now: waking up on Christmas morning with the ones he loved. Everything was so peaceful, for once. Their lives had been so hectic lately that the quiet moment was all the more precious.

Jonghyun suddenly stirred, turning towards Woohyun. “Hyung, don’t watch me sleep. It’s creepy,” he grumbled with his eyes still shut tight. Woohyun stiffened for a second; he’d been caught. But then he scoffed at the grumpy, pug-like face of the younger. How had he even known that Woohyun was watching with those eyes shut so tight? It didn’t matter. Woohyun gave in and got up.

“Okay, I’ll make breakfast then,” he offered, speaking and walking as softly as he could. As he was making his way to the kitchen, he paused to look down the hallway where the bedrooms were. _I wonder if they’re up_. He hesitated, contemplating taking a step forward, but he shook his head and went into the kitchen. It would be better to let sleeping dogs lie.

A few minutes after stepping into the kitchen, after Woohyun had started brewing the coffee, a long-haired, sleep-induced  zombie shuffled into the room. She made it only as far as the counter, and then slumped over it. Her eyes barely fluttered open as she looked up at Woohyun and muttered something vaguely sounding like ‘good morning.’ Woohyun chuckled as he asked, “What are you doing up?”

“I wanna help,” Maeri answered with a gaping yawn.

Woohyun shook his head and then began to gather things to make breakfast. “Do you think you can stay awake long enough?” he pointed out.

He watched Maeri try to glare at him the best that she could with those half-lidden eyes, but she soon gave up and stood up straight, stretching her wearied limbs. It was too early in the morning for glaring. “I’ll try,” she replied with a groan. Woohyun bit his lip, holding back a remark about how old the other sounded right now, with her joints creaking. He held it in. It was also too early in the morning for silly spats, and besides, it was Christmas. His gift to Maeri could include ribbing her a little less today. “Hm?” She muttered. Woohyun perked up his head to see Maeri picking up a white card from off the countertop. “What’s this?”

Woohyun had been so fixated on making breakfast that he completely walked past the card, several times now.  “I don’t know. I didn’t see it,” he confessed as he watched Maeri read the card intently. Her brow wrinkled, and Woohyun grew impatient. “What is it?”

“It’s a note from unnie,” Maeri responded, flipping the card over to read the back. But there was nothing on the other side, so she flipped it over and read it again, obviously disappointed that there was nothing more. “She left already.”

“What?” Woohyun exclaimed as he reached for the card. _That can’t be right_. But then again, it was, written out clearly in black and white. It was short but sweet, as was Hani’s custom. She thanked them for welcoming her in and expressed regret in leaving so soon, but work had called her away. Well, something _was_ wrong. No library was open on Christmas. Unless the whole library had caught aflame, Woohyun had a feeling that Hani was lying.

“Why did she leave?” He muttered, flipping the card over like Maeri had done moments before in search of more information. Frustrated, he put the card back down, but his eyes didn’t stray from it. “We’re not even done yet. It’s still Christmas,” he argued like Hani were still in the room. He took in a deep breath and let it out. His gaze darted over towards the front door. How could they not even hear it open? She had to have left incredibly early for them not to notice. Woohyun began to feel uneasy. “She didn’t even have breakfast,” he thought aloud.

“I don’t know,” Maeri grumbled, but there was something off about her tone. Woohyun looked over again to see a new note in Maeri’s hands. _Where is she finding all of these?_ “But Sunggyu is gone too,” she quickly revealed as she was still reading the note.

 _Him too?_ Woohyun leaned against the counter. He thought back to the night before, trying to find the moment when he chased his guests out of the house. “Did we do something wrong?” he blurted out. _Did we make them uncomfortable?_ Woohyun’s mind fluttered to Hani’s uneasy smile. _I...I did._

“I don’t _think_ we did,” Maeri objected. She was flicking the edges of the second note in her hands. Her pout was deepening. She finally looked up to the other, after reading the note once more. “They looked like they were having fun last night, right?” She was just as unsure as he was. Even though Woohyun gave a short nod, Maeri didn’t seem to be consoled. She sighed and tossed the card back onto the counter. “I really wish people would stop leaving without saying goodbye,” she muttered.

“They left notes,” Woohyun said, pulling Sunggyu’s note across the counter and reading it for himself. It was much like Hani’s yet shorter, giving no excuse for his sudden departure. He flicked it away.

Maeri huffed, “Yea, they did.” Her arms were crossed over her chest, still upset. Woohyun smirked. He was still upset too, even though he tried to act okay with it. _It’s not the same_ , he thought. Even though they left notes, thanking them for their hospitality, no one should ever leave like that without saying goodbye, not on Christmas. He picked up the first note again and tapped it against the counter. _It’s not the same._

“Woohyun-ah! Maeri-yah! Jonghyun-goon! We’re back!” a shot bellowed through the hall as the front door open wide with a slam. The parents were back from their trip, meaning Woohyun’s peaceful Christmas morning was now shattered, which was alright. He didn’t feel at peace anymore.

* * *

Having a full house again enlivened the spirits within Woohyun and Maeri again. Their parents were jovial, as always. And once the mothers entered the house, they kicked Woohyun out of the kitchen and made breakfast themselves. There was nothing like a meal cooked by your mother’s hands. Woohyun’s mood brightened with the first bite.

But before the meal was ready, Maeri suggested that they exchange gifts, while they had a brief moment to themselves. Woohyun agreed, although he was less excited than the other because he’d already figured out what Maeri had gotten him. Even if he hadn’t caught her in the act, he would’ve eventually figured it out. Over the years, he’d figured out how Maeri gave gifts. It was always something he needed, and what he needed now was dress shoes.

But Maeri had no idea. She never knew what Woohyun got her. Even this year, she opened up her gift and her jaw dropped once she saw them: boots (Woohyun picked up on the ‘shoe’ theme from her). “How did you know?” she asked as she reached into the box and pulled them out. “I’ve been wanting a pair of these, but I never told anyone.”

“I saw you looking at them the other day,” Woohyun revealed. He’d caught her eye lingering over them as they left the shoe department the other day.

Maeri grinned. “You’re perceptive,” she praised.

“I have to be. You never tell anybody what you really want,” he replied bluntly, reaching for his own gift. “It’s kind of annoying,” he muttered lowly as he ripped the wrapping paper off the gift. In fact, he hadn’t even bothered asking her what she wanted this year because he’d be left with a pregnant pause and a gift that he didn’t want to give her. He stopped asking when she said that she could really use a nice pair of wool socks. Always things that she needed, never anything she wanted.

“Really?” Maeri muttered, looking down at the boots. “I’ll have to get better at that.”

Woohyun gazed up at her and stiffened. _This was what she wanted, right?_

* * *

Christmas had come and gone, as did the old year. And Hani decided to start this year off with a new resolve. Last year, she wasn’t her usual self, or was she? Hani felt more like a younger, more carefree version of herself than what she’d been these past years. But the way she acted at times wasn’t like herself at all. Like on Christmas Eve.

It was nearing the end of the night, and they were playing one last game of Mafia before taking off for bed. Jonghyun was already asleep in the arm chair, and so the game wasn’t supposed to be challenging with only four players. Yet it was (as it would turn out, not only were they tipsy and drowsy but also Woohyun had forgotten who’d he chosen to be in the Mafia). The debates were heated yet light-hearted, making them laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. It was when Maeri claimed to know all of their tells and began listing them off. Woohyun put his arm around Hani’s shoulders as he listened to his fiancee ramble. Hani quickly glanced at Woohyun, but his eyes were fixed straight ahead on Maeri. And when Hani slowly turned to see Maeri’s reaction, her friend was too caught up in her rant to even notice, even though she was directly looking at Woohyun whose arm was around Hani. The librarian sputtered into a laugh of disbelief. Was this her luck? _Right. I’ll give in just this once_ , she thought as she leaned in a little. It wouldn’t hurt to give in just this once, although she knew that she’d be the one to pay for it later on.

Hani liked Woohyun. That would come as a surprise to no one. She tried her best to keep her distance, to prevent her from falling into trouble, or something more. But instead she kept getting closer and closer to the edge. And now not only had she gotten too close to Woohyun emotionally but also physically.

Maeri might not have been paying attention, but someone noticed. Sunggyu looked directly at Hani, and his lips turned up into an amused smile. Hani blushed. She’d been caught. But then again, she had Sunggyu earlier. He himself had indulged in his own fantasies, going on a moonlit walk with Maeri (okay and maybe Hani had given him encouragement to go). But when they came back, it was obvious that something had happened between them other than the Christmas lights. It was written all over Maeri’s face. Her mind was somewhere else. And Sunggyu was no better, casting nervous glances at the woman every-so-often.

But as the evening wore on and the drinks were poured, Maeri loosened up. And now she was shoving Sunggyu over and accusing him of being the member of the Mafia because he laughed. As a debate began to rage between those two, Woohyun removed his arm from around Hani. He furrowed his brow as he watched the two argue. _Does he suspect them?_ Then he winced in pain. “Aish, this is getting too confusing,” Woohyun cursed. “Let’s just call it quits and go to bed. Who was in the Mafia? I forget,” he admitted with a shy chuckle.

“You forgot?!” Maeri exclaimed. She inhaled deeply about to chastise her fiance, but then she noticed a hand raising out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head towards Sunggyu. “I knew it was you!”

“No, you didn’t,” Sunggyu argued. “You were just accusing everybody.”

“But in my heart,” Maeri spoke dramatically, placing a hand over her chest. “I knew it was you. I _knew_ it.”

Hani laughed as she watched them. _Those two could probably argue about this all night and not get bored of it_. But then the laughter caught in her throat. A hand had laid gently over hers, which was resting on her knee. Woohyun leaned in and spoke quietly so that the other two wouldn’t hear, “Let’s go to bed. Those two could argue all night.” He then gave her hand a light pat before getting up from the couch and walking over to wake up Jonghyun.

Hani looked down at her hand. Somehow, that moment had felt more intimate than anything else they had done that day. It was a moment only between them. No one else had witnessed it this time, like they did with the others. And they’d been thinking the same thought. There was a connection. And the touch, it was light and casual, like they’ve done this before and like Woohyun voice when he said “Let’s go to bed.” Her mind and heart raced. Woohyun didn’t mean it in that way, but…

But Hani needed to back away before things could get any worse. She wouldn’t be the one to break Woohyun and Maeri. She was not her mother. She was not the type to put her own interests ahead of the good of others. And so she left Maeri’s home before the sun even rose. Distance, she needed to put distance between herself and this entire situation. Even though Woohyun felt like the home that she had lost years ago, a home that she could have again. Maeri was her friend, a treasured friend. Hani earnestly hoped that things would work out. But she didn’t know how without anybody getting hurt.

But if she left in this way, maybe she’d take all the hurt, bury it in her heart, and the rest would be okay. She hoped. She earnestly hoped.

* * *

The first day at work after a long break was always rough on Woohyun, even rougher when Maeri got to stay home because the auction house was closed for another week. “It’s not fair,” Woohyun grumbled as he dragged his feet to the nearby coffee house. The only way he could make it through this day was if he had something sweet and caffeinated, and sweet. Maybe that would perk him up and get him through the day. Even the smell of the coffee house was doing the trick. His steps were already becoming lighter.

Then Woohyun came to a full stop. Hani was here too, in the same room, only a few steps away. Yet it felt as if they were world away. Somehow this distance built up between them after Hani left Christmas morning. Woohyun had felt like it was his fault, and since then, they hadn’t contacted each other, not even to wish each other a happy New Year (Maeri did in his stead). Normally, Woohyun wouldn’t be this tentative or cautious with a friend, but could he even consider Hani as a friend? She was Maeri’s unnie, but his librarian. He had thought of her as a ‘noona’ who shared interests with him and even a past. But maybe he acted closer with her than they actually were, and that made Hani uncomfortable. That scared her off.

There was a person in between them as they waited for their orders to be filled. A ‘hi’ was on the tip of his tongue, ready for whenever Hani would look his way. But she never did. Her eyes were fixed on the clock, determinedly so. Was she counting down the seconds? Until what? Of course, there could be another reason. _She knows that I’m right here_.

Woohyun chewed on his lip, biting back the temptation to ask her why. But he couldn’t hold back the feeling rising up inside of him so easily. But what was it? Indignation at being ignored? Pity for himself or her? Curiousity? He didn’t know. He just wanted it to go away. It made him even more agitated than he already was.

Then her order was filled, and Hani hurriedly grabbed her coffee and headed out the door, passing by Woohyun with her head down. “N-noona,” he called her name out apprehensively as she walked by.

Hani turned to face him (obviously knowing where he was) but kept walking as she said, “Oh, good morning, Woohyun-ssi.” And she disappeared from his sight.

“Woohyun-ssi?” Woohyun repeated under his breath. He scoffed as he reached for his coffee that was just placed on the counter. “Woohyun-ssi?!” he raised his voice, not caring who listened. He looked towards the door of the cafe. “What’s with the formalities?”

_What did I do wrong?_

* * *

“Are you doing anything right now?”

“Me?” Maeri asked as she sat up from the couch. She had planned on catching up on a drama and maybe do some chores around the house. But then she received this unexpected phone call. Maeri had no idea what he would want. He rarely calls her over the phone, let alone ask for favors. _It must be serious_ , Maeri thought. She turned off the television and got up from the couch. “I’m not doing anything right now. Why?”

“I didn’t know who else to call. Everybody is at work except for you. I hope you don’t mind.”

Maeri half-smiled. Of course she’d been the only one off today, but she wouldn’t mind running an errand for a friend. “Don’t worry about it, Dongwoo. What is it that you need me to do?” she asked as she got ready to leave.

Dongwoo sighed in relief. “Can you stop by my clinic? I have medicine that I want Sunggyu to take.”

Maeri stopped while she was halfway done putting on her coat. “Sunggyu? Is he sick?”

“Yes,” Dongwoo responded in a distracted voice. Maeri could then overhear him giving instructions to someone else at the other end of the line.

“With what? Is he okay?” Maeri shot off. She quickly put on her coat. Hastily, she wrote a message for Woohyun on a slip of paper in case he came home early. After she was done, she shuffled to the door and slipped on her shoes.

Dongwoo must’ve not heard her. “So can you come by my clinic and drop the medicine off for him? Pretty please,” he spoke cutely.

She didn’t need to be asked twice. “Yes, of course.” And she was out the door.

* * *

Woohyun shuffled into the break room. It was just scarcely noon, but he was already feeling so low and tired. He already felt like he needed another cup of coffee, something bitter this time. Maybe that would call him to his senses. He was so distracted all morning. His mind drifting back to what had just happened hours earlier. _What did I do wrong?_

“Your mind is elsewhere.” Woohyun didn’t even need to look behind him to know who it was, even though his coworker’s normally excited voice sounded raspy. Sungyeol leaned against the counter and met the other’s eyes, staring deeply as if he were trying to read them. “Who are you thinking about? Maeri?” Sungyeol asked in a teasing voice.

“Uh,” Woohyun paused to think. It would be better not to be honest at the moment. “Yea,” he muttered, picking up the coffee cup and began pouring.

“Just think,” Sungyeol began. Woohyun glanced over and saw the other staring off into the distance with a grin. “Maybe next year, it’ll be you telling me that Maeri’s having a baby.” Woohyun scoffed at that. _Doubt it_ , he thought. Woohyun turned and leaned against the counter next to Sungyeol. He’d let his coworker indulge in that fantasy. Sungyeol seemed to be in such a bright, hopeful mood that it was making Woohyun feel better as well. “Ah! It’s a crazy world, isn’t it?” Sungyeol mused.

“Isn’t the baby about to come? You seem oddly calm about all of this,” Woohyun remarked. Sungyeol was starting to seem like his old self again, a well rested and happy man. He wasn’t that cursing zombie of a man that had been roaming his cubicle these past couple of months.

“Do I?” Sungyeol asked with a widening smile. He couldn’t believe it. “Huh. I guess I’m just excited to finally see the little sucker,” he reasoned with a shrug. He laughed to himself and looked over at Woohyun. “I’m going to be a dad.”

Woohyun smiled as he patted the other on the back. “Yea you are.”

“Well,” Sungyeol began. He then took Woohyun’s mug from his hands. “Thanks for the coffee,” he said cheekily. He then reached for what he thought was the sugar but it ended up being salt. Woohyun didn’t even bother telling him, finding it all amusing, and he was shocked to see Sungyeol take a big gulp of his salted coffee. “Mmm delicious,” Sungyeol commented as he left the break room. “Goodbye.”

Woohyun laughed after Sungyeol turned the corner. His coworker had still lost his mind, but now...he was starting to relate to that.

* * *

Sunggyu was going to die. He was sure of it. He never felt so awful, so weak in his life. For the whole day, he had barely moved from the couch which he was currently laying, or as he was now thinking of it as, his deathbed. One of his students had caught a monstrous fever over break and decided to give it to their dear teacher as a New Year’s present. Sunggyu always wanted the Black Death, and now he had it. Lucky him.

Okay so maybe he was being overdramatic, but this fever was driving him crazy. His mind was so hot, so hazy. And now, he swore that he was hearing beeping noises echoing in his head, as if his mind was trying to talk to him in Morse Code. _Wait_ , Sunggyu opened his eyes slightly as he sat up on the couch. _Is that the door? It is_! He saw the front door opening, and he fell back down onto the couch.

“Dongwoo! Are you back already?” he called out in relief. He was grateful that the day passed by so quickly and now his roommate was home. He didn’t know how much longer he could’ve managed on his own. The last time he vomited, he barely made it into the bathroom in time, and it took him years (or what felt like it) to crawl back onto the couch. Sunggyu squirmed at the memory and whined, “I threw up again. I think I’m dying.”

“It’s me.”

Sunggyu must have certainly gone crazy. That voice didn’t sound like Dongwoo’s at all. “Who?” he muttered the question quietly, not trusting his own ears.

A face peaked around the corner as the body laid against the wall, shy. “Hi.”

Now Sunggyu was hallucinating or was he dreaming. Whatever it was, he couldn’t trust his eyes, not for a second. After all, why would Yoo Maeri be here right now? Shouldn’t she be at work like the rest? And their relationship, it wasn’t like that. It couldn’t be her walking into the room right now, up to him. Sunggyu must surely be asleep. “Hi?” he greeted back, nevertheless, blinking his eyes furiously.

Maeri stepped forward carefully, searching around the room as she approached the couch. Sunggyu tried to follow her scattered gaze, wondering what she could be looking forward. “Where did you throw up?” she asked bluntly.

Sunggyu winced and he felt his face growing even hotter. “Toilet,” he mumbled under his breath.

“Good. I don’t wanna clean it up,” she admitted. Maeri then widened her eyes and waved her hand, quick to correct herself. “I _will_ clean it, but I don’t want to.” She laughed as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “It’s gross.”

 _Gross?_ Sunggyu sighed and sat up when Maeri was finally standing in front of him only a few inches away. That’s when it hit him that she was there, in the flesh. “Why?” his voice croaked through his dry throat. He then stopped to clear it before continuing. “Why are you here?”

“Oh right!” Maeri exclaimed as she rushed back to the front door. Sunggyu craned his neck to see what she was doing. Maeri was crouched down, rifling through her bag, but she didn’t allow Sunggyu’s curiosity to last for too long. “Dongwoo asked me to pick up some medicine for you,” she revealed and pulled out a white paper bag, showing it off proudly to the sick man on the couch.

Sunggyu couldn’t help but pout, wondering what kind of bitter herbs Dongwoo wanted him to stew in now (or worse, needles that he’d instructed Maeri to prick him with to get rid of his nausea). “Great,” he grumbled.

Maeri giggled, almost mischievously. Sunggyu panicked. _Oh my god, she’s going to prick me_. He was scared to see what else that she was searching for in her bag. “I also got you some modern medicine too,” Maeri said as she pulled out a subscription bag.

Sunggyu breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Great!”

Maeri picked up another bag, take-out from a restaurant, before walking back over to the couch. “I got some porridge, but maybe we’ll save that for when you’re not throwing up,” she proposed with a sheepish smile. Maeri pouted as her eyes scanned over his face. “How’s your stomach?”

“I don’t think I’ll eat ever again,” Sunggyu admitted with an embarrassed chuckle, rubbing his stomach, willing it to keep still, to cease from gurgling. He’d hate for this to become even more embarrassing. He didn’t even want to think about what he looked like right now.

“Okay.” Maeri pointed over to the kitchen, walking in that direction at the same time. “I’ll put it in the fridge for later,” she declared. Her voice was growing fainter as she walked away. Sunggyu had thought of following her, but before he could even swing his legs over the edge of the couch, she returned back to his side. Was she quick or he just slow? Maeri knelt down next to the side of the couch, her hand gripping the armrest. “What medicine do you want? Oriental? Modern?” she asked, reaching for the bags.

“Modern, modern,” Sunggyu quickly answered.

“Okay,” Maeri muttered with a widening grin. Her hand was already around the prescription bag before the other answered. But then, much to his dismay, Maeri got up again and walked back into the kitchen. He could hear cupboards opening and closing, the faucet running. What was she doing?

Maeri came shuffling back within minutes, mug in hand, bowl tucked under her arm, and pockets brimming with tissues. “Here,” she mumbled thrusting the mug at his face. He took it and looked inside; it was just water. Then suddenly, Maeri’s fist appeared in front of his face again. She flipped it over and opened her palm, revealing the medicine inside. “Medicine. Take it,” she commanded in a distracted voice. Her eyes were searching around the apartment again. Sunggyu raised his hand slowly. His fingertips grazed her palm as he picked up the pills. His eyes barely strayed from her face, but she kept looking elsewhere. But they snapped back on his face right as Sunggyu was popping the pills into his mouth. He nearly choked. Maeri then handed the bowl to him. “And here,” she offered. Sunggyu took it and looked up at her confused. “For vomit,” she clarified.

“Thanks,” he grumbled. Sunggyu’s gaze dropped to the bowl in his lap. He felt like swiping it off his lap in frustration. Why did he have to say that? Why was she so blunt about it? It made him feel even more embarrassed about it, the fact that she accepted it so readily. Sunggyu raised his head back up, wanting to tell her that he didn’t need the bowl, that he could walk to the bathroom just fine. But when he looked up, she wasn’t in front of him anymore. Maeri was walking around the room, picking up the used tissues that Sunggyu had carelessly thrown onto the floor. Why? She didn’t even flinch or touch as little of the tissue as possible. Maeri was picking them up as a mother does for a sick child. “What are you doing?” Sunggyu blubbered.

“Cleaning up,” she answered. Maeri then looked up at him and smiled. Taking a tissue out of her pocket, she swiped it across his face, right under his nose. _Don’t tell me_ , Sunggyu cursed in his mind. His nose was running unawares. And Maeri just wiped it away naturally. “Everything. Everything is a mess,” she said, folding the tissue in her hand.

“Even me?” Sunggyu retorted, tapping under his nose, making sure that it was dry (it just barely was).

“Yes,” Maeri responded with a laugh before running off to the trashcan to throw the tissues away.

 _Right_ , Sunggyu thought. _I am a mess_. And it was becoming only worse, now that he knew how she felt about him. How was he supposed to act now? Was he just supposed to forget? He couldn’t. Not with her acting so kind to him. But he couldn’t do anything about his feelings either, just sit here and stew in them, let them fester and grow like the fever ravaging his body right now.

Maeri turned around and met his gaze with smiling eyes. Sunggyu sighed (which quickly turned into a hacking cough). _Yes, I’m a mess, but you made me this way. You and Woohyun._

* * *

Luckily, Woohyun was able to finish work early and sneak out of the office. And he was looking forward to vegging out on the couch with Maeri, pretending like he didn’t go to work today or even leave the house. What he needed now were one of her silly dramas (and commentary along with it) to take his mind off of things. However, when he opened up the door, he found the apartment to be empty. The couch was surprisingly vacant and cold. No one had been there for awhile. There was no one in their bedroom or bathroom. He did, though, find something while he was in the kitchen: a note written in haste. “Dongwoo called. He asked me to drop off medicine for Sunggyu. Be back soon, Maeri.”

Woohyun twirled the paper on the counter as he thought it over. And the more he thought, the more suspicious he felt. Something was off about this. Why didn’t she just text him this? Why a note (especially after what happened days before)? Woohyun glanced down at the watch on his wrist. If she went off to drop off medicine, she should be back by now. It wasn’t an errand that should take long. His old apartment was only a few blocks from here. _But if she left recently?_ It could be possible that she’d be there and be back soon. She’d be there. She’d be there with Sunggyu. She’d be there with Sunggyu alone.

He didn’t like it. Woohyun didn’t know why. He just didn’t like it.

At that moment, his phone rang in his pocket. _Ah, it’s her!_ He hurriedly pulled it out, but frowned as he read who it was who was truly calling him. He’d feel bad about this later, but he answered the phone gruffly (he couldn’t help but to feel slightly annoyed), “Oh, Dongwoo. What is it?”

“Woohyun, there’s something I need to tell you.”

* * *

Maeri let out a deep breath as she scrubbed a bowl clean in the kitchen sink. A while ago, she managed to get Sunggyu to eat the porridge that she’d bought for him. It was bad for him to take the medicine on an empty stomach, and it ate at her until she finally saw him eat.  Now she was doing the dishes and  scrubbing a bit harder and longer than she should. The bowl was probably already clean a minute go, but she kept scrubbing. She needed to be kept busy with something. She couldn’t justify staying here much longer, but...Maeri snuck a glance into the next room out of the corner of her eye. Sunggyu was still laying there, wide-eyed and occasionally coughing. She let out another deep breath as she turned on the faucet, rinsing off the bowl yet again. But she just wanted to stay until she saw him sleep, and then she could leave with an easy heart. Sunggyu, however, wasn’t making it easy for her.

“What are you doing?” she heard him call to her with a slight wheeze. He especially wasn’t making it easy for her when he did that, checking up on her every few minutes or whenever she was out of sight. He sounded lost. And whenever he asked her that, she felt tethered to him and the tether pulling her back to that sad couch in the living room.

Like now. Maeri wiped her hands dry and walked back into the living room. “I finished washing the dishes,” she reported. Maeri gazed down at him and patted him gently on the arm. “Why don’t you go to sleep?”

“I’m trying,” he confessed, turning onto his side to look at her. “But I can’t.”

“How about if you go to your actual bed?” Maeri suggested. She gestured to the couch. “This can’t be good for your back.” And to that, Sunggyu’s only response was to snuggle in deeper into the couch, refusing to move. _Okay, he’s just being lazy now_ , Maeri concluded. _He’s never going to fall asleep_. She huffed as she rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, eyes fixed determinedly on Sunggyu (who was starting to look worried). Maeri then grabbed at each of his arms and began to pull him up. “Come on. Get up. Get...up!” she groaned and tried to pull him up and off the couch.

And Sunggyu just barely helped her. However, after a good long minute of pulling, Sunggyu was on his feet. He was already teetering, probably feeling light-headed from just being upright. He couldn’t even keep his eyes open. “I’m up...I’m up,” he rasped and quickly fell into a coughing fit. The simple activity of standing up left him short of breath. Maeri frowned as she watch Sunggyu curl up as he coughed. _I did this to him._ Her hand ran up and down his hunched back, trying to soothe him.

“You’re really sick, aren’t you?” she spoke in a quiet voice as Sunggyu turned to look at her. Her gaze fell to the floor, taking a careful step forward and leading him into the bedroom. “Sorry,” she apologized. “I made you go out in the cold. For those dumb lights.” Her head was spiraling into guilty thoughts: _He was cold. He was obviously cold that night, but I kept him outside for my benefit. And now_...Maeri quickly glanced over at Sunggyu as they were shuffling into the room. His skin was practically grey and glistening with sweat already. This much exertion was too much. _And now he’s dying._

A faint smile spread across his face. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not your fault. I caught this from a student,” he explained. He opened up his bedroom door and walked inside.

Maeri, however, hovered at the doorway, playing with her sleeves. “But still…” She tried to argue because she couldn’t alleviate herself entirely of the guilt. Maybe it weakened his immune system and then...

Sunggyu cut her off from continuing that thought with a simple: “Don’t.” He pulled down his sheets and crawled into his bed. Maeri smirked. Right, no matter whose fault it was, Maeri was paying the price for it now. She stepped into the bedroom and helped Sunggyu pull the covers up on his bed. He’d been struggling to get them to lie flat.

“Are you comfy? Hm?” she asked, pulling the comforter past his chin with a laugh. But Sunggyu pulled it back down quickly to reveal the frown beneath the blanket, his eyebrows furrowed deeply.

“This,” he began sitting back up in the bed. Maeri automatically took a step back from his bedside. “This isn’t working.”

“What do you mean?” Maeri was confused. What could possibly be wrong? Why can’t he sleep now? But then she noticed how heavily the other was breathing. “Ah, you need to be propped up? It might help you breathe,” she suggested, stepping once again by his side and reaching for the pillows behind his back.

“Ah no. It’s fine,” he objected. “But this isn’t working...us. We’re not working. Our friendship.” Maeri looked down from his face to her hand. He had grabbed one of them to stop her from moving his pillows, and now, his hand was slowly enveloping hers, shifting into a hold.

Maeri tore her hand away before it could. She clasped her hands together, wringing them. “That’s something to say to someone who nursed you,” she muttered under her breath. She’d taken care of him all afternoon just for him to say that they couldn’t be friends. Fine, they wouldn’t be anymore. It would be better if they weren’t friendly, in fact. It was a relief to Maeri to know that Sunggyu doesn’t like her. Now she could toss aside those troublesome feelings. Everything would be fine again. Everything would be as it should. Or at least that’s what she tried to tell herself. Her palms were slick against each other and her hands were shaking along with her knees. Her body was fighting against what her mind was trying to tell it to do. She wasn’t fine. The tether tying them together snapped, and now she was wandering around aimlessly.

“Why?”

Sunggyu tried to answer, “I don’t want to be friends with you. I want…”

“Fine!” Maeri shouted, interrupting him. She met his gaze, stared him down. Her blood was boiling now. That was all she needed to hear. “We don’t have to be. We don’t have to hang out or even talk. You can just be Woohyun’s friend.  Or not. I don’t care. I really don’t,” even though she was loud, her voice wasn’t steady as she spoke. So she tried to go something stronger. Maeri nodded towards the door. “If you don’t want me to be here, I’ll leave.” She looked back at him, who was staring at the door with his jaw hanging. He wasn’t saying anything and it didn’t look like he ever would, not even a ‘thank you’ for her trouble. Maeri huffed. She was more angry at herself than at him. _Why am I still here?_ It was like the tunnel again, waiting for something that wouldn’t (and couldn’t) happen. She was leaving.

It latched back on, anchoring her to that spot, the tether. Sunggyu had grabbed the tail of her shirt. “What are you doing? Let go,” Maeri growled, but she allowed him to pull her back to his side.

He looked up at her, eyes wider than they’d been all day. “That’s not what I meant,” he insisted.

“Then what did you mean?” Maeri raised her voice again. She felt his hand fall away, but it didn’t matter. She was stuck now. Her eyes fell to the floor as she straightened her shirt. “I don’t get it,” she muttered, closing her eyes tightly and then let out a deep breath before opening them up again. Sunggyu’s knees were now in her sight. He’d swung them over the bed in the meantime.

“Maeri…” he began as he got up from the bed.

“What are you doing?” Maeri took a step back and then another. He kept drawing nearer still, undeterred. That tether was pulling him in too.

“I tell you and you think it’s joke. So now...I’m going to show you,” Sunggyu said, taking her cheeks into his hands. He then tilted her head down so that he could press his lips softly against her forehead. He then laughed when Maeri let out a soft gasp and raised her eyebrows. “Do you understand now? Why I don’t want to be just your friend?” he asked, lowering his hands from her face so he could cough into his elbow. But Maeri’s head remained at that angle as she processed everything.

Since Christmas, she’d been thinking about what she really wanted in life. She knew that sometimes she tossed her own preferences so she wouldn’t inconvenience others. It was a bad habit that she developed over the years. She was good at talking herself out of things. The things she wanted, she didn’t necessarily need. They were things that she could live without. But maybe there was one thing that she wanted now that she couldn’t live without.

“Sunggyu,” she muttered, finally raising her head back up. But now Sunggyu was the one with his head hanging low.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, cocking his head quickly to the side with a wince. “I shouldn’t have…” his voice drifted off.

Maeri stopped him by placing a small peck on his cheek. “Don’t be. Don’t be sorry,” she said with a widening smile, especially when Sunggyu raised his head looking like something wonderful had just happened. “Me too...I lik—”

She didn’t finish. Sunggyu had leaned in and kissed her. He must’ve been impatient, after waiting for both of them to crack like this, to finally give in. Maeri wasn’t any more patient. Once she noticed Sunggyu getting closer, she was the one to finally close the distance between them. And when she did, she felt her heart sigh, finally feeling the tension leave her. She melted into the kiss, into him. Maeri wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing them closer together. Sunggyu’s hand rest at the nape of her neck. The other one clung to her hip.

Maeri’s lips quirked up for a second into a smile before she tilted her head, changing the angle. Sunggyu’s actions seemed strong; however, he was anything but. She was basically supporting him as all the energy he had was gradually sapped from his body (or focused on entirely one thing now). He, reluctantly, broke off the kiss, hard of breath (she was no better though). She laughed as she lowered his arms from his neck to him around his shoulders, and he pecked her a few more times before nestling his head into the crook of her neck, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Sunggyu, how did he manage for this long? Right now, he seemed nothing more than a child, seeking comfort. She raised her hand and stroked his head gently. This was a baby that she didn’t mind taking care of.

“Before,” he muttered into her neck. Maeri giggled at the sensation of his hot breath against her skin. “What were you going to say before?”

Maeri whined, “I forget.” She’d hope that he was the one to forget, but of course he wouldn’t. If the shoe was on the other foot, she probably wouldn’t forget either.

“Tell me,” Sunggyu grumbled. He slowly raised his head back up, meeting her gaze. “Tell me, and I’ll say it back,” he offered.

But that wasn’t enough to tempt her. Maeri shook her head. “You first,” she tried to use a cute voice.

Luckily for her, he did find it cute. He grinned and gave in. His eyes darted all over her face, which felt hot under his gaze, as if she was the one who had the fever (and she probably will have one later). He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, as he started, “Maeri, I l—”

Beep. Boop. Boop. Beep. Ding! Maeri pulled back and screwed her face as she tried to make out the noise. The beeping was quickly followed by a crashing noise and what sounded like soft grunting, specifically like Dongwoo grunting. Jang Dongwooo, Sunggyu’s roommate and Woohyun’s good friend. Nam Woohyun, her best friend...and fiancé.

“Shit!” _Woohyun. Oh my god! Woohyun!_ His name repeated over and over again in her head as the only words that were able to spill past her lips were, “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. No, no, no.” Her hands pulled at her hair at her roots. What had she done? What could she do?

The only solution that she came to was to make a run for it. She extricated herself away from the other, leaving Sunggyu to topple over without her support, and she walked as quickly yet casually as she could, although the panicked look on her face was a dead give-away. After muttering a few words to Dongwoo as she walked past him, Maeri left the apartment, wishing that she could leave what she’d just done behind her just as easily.

But she couldn’t. The full realization of it hit her as she made it to the stairwell. She slumped against the wall and began crying, bitterly. Maeri tried to muffle her whimpers the best that she could by biting on her fist, but it spilled over anyway. She felt so awful. She couldn’t believe that she was like this, that she could betray her best friend so easily. Woohyun had barely even crossed her mind. How could she forget? Woohyun, who was always accused of cheating in his past relationships but never did. Woohyun, who was loyal as a dog. How could she do this to him?

She sucked in a trembling breath and gripped her heart with her other hand, willing it to calm down. But it couldn’t. It only sped up. Because on top of everything else, she not only betrayed her friend but she also cursed in the face of the man she loved right as he was about to sincerely say his feelings.

Maeri had lost both men in one fell swoop.

* * *

“Woohyun, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Huh? What’s is it? You sound like someone died,” Woohyun joked to try to deflate the tension. Dongwoo’s voice was so tentative, nervous. It was a tone he only used when he had to say something that was hard for him. “What? Do you miss me? Do you want me to come over?” Woohyun guessed again, with hope, when Dongwoo remained silent on the other line. At least this time, the other muttered a ‘no’ in response. _Ah, now I know what it is._ “Don’t tell me you already killed Fish Woohyun?” That had to be it. Woohyun didn’t expect the betta fish to survive in that house for long. And knowing Dongwoo, he’d be scared to confess to Woohyun that he killed it.

“No, no,” Dongwoo quickly denied. “He’s still alive and swimming. Oh, I forgot to feed him. Hold on…” he rambled on until his voice couldn’t be heard on the other end. Woohyun tapped the note against the counter impatiently as he waited for his friend to come back. His curiosity was slowly eating him alive. But he might have relief soon. Dongwoo’s laughter heralded him back into the call. “Okay I’m back.”

“So why did you call?” Woohyun immediately shot off.

“Oh, right,” Dongwoo recalled and then heaved a heavy sigh. “So…how do I begin?” he asked himself. _He must really not know what to say_ , Woohyun thought. Dongwoo was thinking over it more carefully than usual, choosing his words wisely. Normally Dongwoo would speak faster than a pistol, faster than his mind could process. But now, his mouth had slowed to a stop. _What could it be?_

“Uh, Maeri came over today, you know, to take care of Sunggyu while I was at work,” Dongwoo finally spoke.

“Right. I know. She left a note,” Woohyun responded. “Is she okay? Is she sick too?”

“She’s not at home?” Dongwoo immediately asked, as if she should be by now.

“No, I just got home, and she’s not here. Why? She’s not over there? Should I go looking for her?” Woohyun was growing more concerned now. He made his way from the kitchen to the front door and was putting on his shoes back on as he was asking these questions. All he needed was confirmation from Dongwoo, and he was out the door.

However, what Dongwoo said next made Woohyun stop in his tracks: “Woohyun, l don’t know how to say this, but something happened between Sunggyu and Maeri. I don’t know what exactly. But she ran out of the apartment as soon as I walked in. And Sunggyu is acting weird too.”

Woohyun leaned against the wall, rubbing his head. “What do you mean _something_ happened?” he asked.

“Look, Woohyun. Like I said, I don’t know what it was. I might not even be anything, but I thought that you should know,” Dongwoo answered as diplomatically as he could, much to Woohyun’s dismay. He wished that Dongwoo would try to guess. In a way, this was worse than telling Woohyun nothing at all because it allowed his mind to run rampant with worry. Woohyun groaned and flipped over, rubbing his head against the wall. “Hyun-ah, say something. Please,” Dongwoo begged.

Woohyun lifted his head off the wall and began to take off his shoes again. “Thanks for telling me. I got to go okay. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” he spoke quickly not even giving the other a chance to speak.

But it wasn’t like Dongwoo didn’t try. “Don’t do anything—” Woohyun hung up the phone before he could hear the rest and tossed it onto his bed right before he fell onto the bed himself.

Woohyun knew what his friend was going to say though: Don’t do anything rash. It was good that Woohyun hung up when he did. He wasn’t about to make any promises like that. He didn’t know what he was going up against.

Woohyun felt his heart grow heavy as he turned onto his side. Dongwoo was intuitive. And he didn’t normally make a bigger deal out of things than they actually were. So if he thinks that something was wrong, then something was actually wrong. But what could it be? Did they fight? But Sunggyu and Maeri seemed to get along well, _very_ well. Maybe a little too well at times for Woohyun’s liking. There were times that Sunggyu would gaze at her with an expression that Woohyun would hardly classify as ‘friendly.’ It was almost...lovingly. _No, that’s crazy,_ Woohyun thought as he tossed onto his other side. It was probably the way the light hit his eyes at the moment. Yea, that has to be it. Because there was no way that his _good_ _friend_ would be in love with his fiancée. Even if he did, Maeri didn’t love him back…did she? The more Woohyun thought about them, the sicker and angrier he felt. The later it became and Maeri still wasn’t home, his mood only got worse, and the more he thought. Why wasn’t she home? She was avoiding him again. She promised she wouldn’t do this anymore, that she wouldn’t leave him alone. _She’s a liar. She’s a freaking liar._ For the first time in his whole life, Woohyun was genuinely starting to hate her.

It was around 8 o’clock when Woohyun dragged himself out of bed to grab some food to eat. And it was while he was eating whatever mess leftovers and side-dishes that he wrangled together, when Maeri finally came back home. Woohyun raised his head from his bowl as soon as he saw the door open, and he’d been scowling at her until she raised her head.

She’d been crying. Her eyes were still red and puffy. Her face was blotching and looked as if it were on the brink of cracking. All she needed was a little chip before she’d fall apart again. Woohyun wasn’t used to seeing this side of Maeri, not at all. He’d only witnessed her crying once before, years ago. So the fact that she’d been crying now meant that something was seriously wrong.

Woohyun remained at his spot at the table, staring at her. And she wavered by the doorway, fiddling nervously with the hem of her shirt. She had something to tell him, he knew it. But they still stared at each other wordlessly for a full minute. Woohyun was the first to crack. He’d waited too long already. He just hoped that he wouldn’t push her too far. Woohyun pushed his bowl aside and got up to meet her at the doorway. “Maeri,” he called out to her on his way over.

“Yes?” Maeri asked, her voice shaking already.

 _This isn’t a good sign_. Woohyun swallowed hard. “Dongwoo told me about this afternoon,” he tried to put it as delicately as he could. But maybe it wasn’t delicate enough. Maeri stiffened and looked at him, completely terrified. “Maeri, you’re scaring me. What happened? Did you fight? Or…did something else happen?” he stammered out the last question. Maeri dropped her gaze. Woohyun’s gut fell along with it. He didn’t want to ask the next question, but with the way Dongwoo and Maeri were acting…“Did Sunggyu take advantage of you in any way?”

“No, no, it wasn’t like that,” she finally broke her silence, waving her hands in the air.

Woohyun sighed in relief as a tenuous smile spread across his face. “I knew Dongwoo was overreacting,” he muttered.

“We kissed.”

“What?” Woohyun could scarcely hear what she was saying. Her voice was so low and her lips barely moved.

“We kissed,” she repeated more loudly and clearly. And it shot through him like an arrow, wounding him through and through. It wasn’t a ‘he kissed me.’ If it was, Woohyun could simply just hate Sunggyu for the rest of his existence. But the ‘we’ complicated the matter.  It was mutual. The way Sunggyu and Maeri felt about each other was mutual...and mutually exclusive of Woohyun. And Maeri wasn’t someone he could toss out of his life as easily as he could with Sunggyu.

“But…we’re engaged!” Woohyun reminded her, at the top of his lungs, drilling it into her head in case she’d forgotten (he thought that the ring should’ve been enough of a reminder).

Maeri finally cracked again. The tears were streaming down her face as her shoulders were shaking as she sobbed. “I know,” she said as she sniffed loudly. She then mouthed ‘I’m sorry,’ unable to give voice to it.

Woohyun watched her carefully, wondering if he really wanted to ask the question pestering his mind. Yes, yes he did. He was sick of not knowing. “Do…do you like him?” he blurted.

She hung her head and covered her face with her hands. “Woohyun, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. It just happened. I’m really really sorry,” Maeri finally gave voice to her apology. It sounded genuine. But there was no amount of apologies, no matter how genuine, that could assuage the feeling of betrayal rising in him.

His hands flew to his head as he pulled at his hair in frustration. “You like him. Oh my God. You like Sunggyu,” he grumbled in disbelief, pacing back and forth in front of her. And all Maeri could do was mumble out apologies in between her sobs. But that’s not what Woohyun wanted to hear right now. “Why?” he asked.

“Huh?”

“Why do you like him? Why do you like my friend?” Woohyun yelled. “What makes him so great that you had to _cheat_ on me? Why? Why did you?” Hot tears were now streaming down his cheeks. He was surprised that he’d lasted this long fighting them back. But now there was no point. He wanted Maeri to _see_ how hurt he was.

“I didn’t mean to,” Maeri answered. “I wasn’t thinking.”

“Obviously,” he growled as he sucked in a breath through his teeth. He wiped his face with his sleeve. “You,” he called to her derogatorily. “Do you even love me? Did you ever?”

Maeri met his gaze. “That’s not fair, Woohyun. You _know_ I do,” she replied and for the first time, her voice had some strength to it.

“No, I don’t,” he bitterly retorted. Right now, he felt like she had no regard for him or his feelings.

“What about me?” Maeri suddenly turned the question against him. “Do you love me?”

“What?” Woohyun couldn’t believe her audacity right now. She was the one who cheated, and now she was questioning him. _She’s heartless_.

“Woohyun, I was your last resort. Your back-up plan,” Maeri slowly began raising her voice at him. “Do you really think I’m your _soul mate_? Do you even _want_ to marry me?”

“Maeri, don’t be an _idiot_. I’m not marrying you because of that stupid promise that we made when we were kids,” he fought back, hitting his fist against the wall.

Maeri scoffed, “That stupid promise.” She then narrowed her eyes on him. “You don’t want me. You want a wife.  You’re marrying me just because I said ‘yes.’ Anybody would’ve worked.”

Now it was Woohyun’s turn to scoff in derision. “Really? Anybody? I would’ve married anybody?” he asked. Maeri nodded smartly to each question. Woohyun clenched his hands into fist and pounded one against his chest. “Do you think that I’m really that desperate?”

“Yea, pretty much.”

That stung. Woohyun had taken more than enough hits tonight. He reached for his coat and roughly stuffed his arms into the sleeves. “We’re over. We’re done,” he stated and crammed his feet to whatever shoes by the door. “I’ll guess I’ll leave and ask the next girl I see to marry me because I’m _so_ desperate.” He reached for the door.

“Wait!” Maeri called out to him. Woohyun stopped and turned around only to see Maeri pulling the ring off of her finger and then throwing it at his chest. “Here.”

Biting a stream of curses back, Woohyun bent down to pick up the ring. “Thanks,” he muttered sarcastically as he straightened back up. “I almost forgot.” He then opened up the door and slammed it behind it, muffling Maeri’s smart alec ‘You’re welcome!’

Maeri stared at the closed door, seething. Woohyun had pushed all the right buttons to make her snap, to try to paint her as the villain. Yes, she’d be the first to admit that she did something wrong, but to question if she’d ever loved him. She did! She honestly did, but not in the way she should as a fianceé. But there was nothing that she could do about that. She couldn’t control her heart any better than he could control his. Woohyun didn’t love her as he should either, she knew it.

Slowly, she began to regain her breath, and sense of mind, recalling all of the hurtful things that she’d just said. Maeri replayed it over and over again in her mind. Why did she say those things? They were over the line. She wanted to take them back.

Maeri ripped the door open and darted down the hall. She slipped down the stairs in her rush, but she had to catch up with Woohyun. Quickly gathering herself back up, she ran out of the building and scanned the streets, searching for any sign where the other might’ve went. Luckily her phone was still in her pocket. She pulled it out and dialed his number. “Woohyun-ah, please please pick up,” she begged as it rang. But instead, an automated message played, saying that his phone was out of service. “Damn it,” Maeri cursed and she sprinted down a side of the street. After not seeing any sign of Woohyun, she sprinted down the other side. The phone was still glued to her ear, replaying that automated message over and over again.

After searching the entire block and a few of their favorite spots, but finding no sign of him, Maeri concluded that he was long gone. She didn’t know where he would be. And snow was falling in the icy night. Maeri fingers were frozen from dialing and redialing the phone. With a heavy heart, she gave up her search and shuffled back to the apartment.

That’s where she found Woohyun’s phone, still lying on the bed. Maeri sighed and threw her own phone onto the bed after pulling out the battery. She was in no mood to talk to anyone. She then pulled off a blanket from the bed, dragging it over to the couch in the living room where she’d sleep tonight. It wouldn’t be right to sleep on that bed after what she’d done...or without him.


	25. The Letter (age 30)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this is taking so long. I'm completely redoing the ending, mostly thanks to comments that I've received (making me realize something that I didn't realize myself). I think the story will be better for it.

“I’d offer you some more, but that’s my last one.”

Woohyun placed the now empty beer can onto the table with the other two that he’d finished earlier. He had planned on drinking more, until he’d fall asleep on the spot and forget this whole mess for just a moment, but Hoya had no more beers left in his fridge, and Woohyun didn’t feeling like coming out of his hiding place just yet. Hoya’s apartment, it was the one place that _she_ didn’t know where it was, the only place that she wouldn’t think to look. Hopefully, she wouldn’t call Hoya, asking his whereabouts. But Woohyun was banking on her guilt prohibiting her from doing so.

 _Did she call Dongwoo? Or...did she call him?_ These kinds of thoughts, Woohyun wanted to chase them out of his head with alcohol. But they were out of beer. And these thoughts crept back in. Woohyun ruffled his hair in frustration.

“It’s okay,” his tone said it wasn’t, but what could they do. They both had work tomorrow, and it was late as it was. Hoya was in his pajamas and yawning, but still staying up for Woohyun’s sake. “I don’t need another drink,” he lied. “But do you have any paper? And a pen?”

“Paper?” Hoya repeated, his tired eyes widening a little. “What kind? What for?”

“I want to write something, a letter” Woohyun revealed as he fidgeted in his place. His fingers were scratching anxiously against his thighs. He was desperate to get these damn thoughts out of his head. Maybe he’d feel better once he spilled them onto a page. “Or letters. I need lots of paper. Lots and lots of paper.”

Hoya stared at him inquisitively for a few seconds before finally giving in. “Okay,” he spoke with a grunt as he lifted himself off of the couch to go get the paper. In those few moments when Woohyun was alone, things seemed to move slowly. He rubbed the sides of his temples, trying to erase images that his mind was creating, of his future wife and... _Stop. Stop thinking_. Woohyun’s eyes snapped open searching the table, and he was patting his pockets, looking for his phone. _I left it behind_ , he reminded himself. _Good_. He didn’t want her to call him, or worse, for him to call her.

“Here.” Hoya came back with a notebook and a pen. “Write away,” he encouraged him. “Make a manifesto.”

“Thanks,” Woohyun mumbled as he accepted them. He then noticed that Hoya was about to sit down next to him again, and so Woohyun tried to stop him: “You can go to bed now. You don’t need to stay up for me.”

Hoya froze, knees still bent, but he soon straightened himself out, staring at his friend all the while. “Okay,” he relented. “I’ll go to bed,” he announced as he walked over to his bedroom, but as he got to the door, he turned around and faced Woohyun again. “But Woohyun, are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked.

Woohyun tossed the notebook onto the table and huffed, not wanting to talk about it, but he owed it to Hoya. Hoya had bitten back his curiosity long enough, after Woohyun barged into his apartment demanding to stay the night and drink. “I think…,” he began but had to take in a deep breath before continuing again (just the idea of it left him breathless), “...Maeri and I just broke up.”

“You _think_?” Hoya repeated, raising his voice and stomping towards the other with eyes wide in shock. “You don’t know for sure? What happened?”

“Sh, I still need to work through it,” Woohyun tried to silence him, bringing a finger to his lips. He then waved Hoya off. “Go to bed,” he commanded, but Hoya remained still, although his eyes kept darting over to his door, unsure. “Go,” Woohyun repeated. He sighed and picked up the notebook again, opening it up. “I need to figure this out.”

Hoya finally turned around and left him. “Okay, but if you need any help, just wake me up,” he told Woohyun as he walked into the room. Woohyun only grunted in response to show that he’d been listening. He was already quickly moving onto the next task. He placed the open notebook on the table in front of him and clicked the pen. It was time to write and work this all out, spilling his thoughts onto the pages.

His and Maeri’s relationship was a complicated equation. Woohyun had thought it was simple and that he had the answer: a+b=c and c=d so a+b=d. He and Maeri were best friends. People typically marry their best friend, so he and Maeri should get married. However, Woohyun failed to calculate several other factors into their equation. What was the influence of their parents on the relationship? Was the influence positive or negative? How did their relationship change over time? What about the unit of ‘friends’? Were they really the right kind of ‘best friends’ or the wrong kind? But the greatest factor that Woohyun overlooked was Kim Sunggyu, and he was having the hardest time squeezing that bastard into the equation and solving it.

The more he wrote, the harder his mind ran, the more tired he became, his epiphany was drawing nearer.

Eventually he did solve it, as the morning rays began to peek through Hoya’s blinds.

All he had to do was remove something from the equation.

* * *

“Whoa.”

The next morning, Hoya stumbled out of his bedroom and into the living room, his mouth hanging wide open as he saw piles of letters on the table and Woohyun also laying on top of the table with bloodshot eyes. “Did you get any sleep last night?” Hoya asked. But it was more of a rhetorical question at this point. It was obvious that Woohyun had barely caught a wink of sleep. Woohyun knew that he couldn’t sleep with these thoughts bouncing around in his head, so he tried to extricate them, writing them down. But then he spent all night writing. And so Hoya’s question was like rubbing salt into his wound. Woohyun narrowed his eyes on him, the best that he could. At that, Hoya cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject, “Who are all of these for?” He pointed to the letters.

Woohyun stood up. With a stretch and a groan, he answered, “Just some people I know. I’m making coffee, do you want any?” He then entered the kitchen and began fiddling with the coffeemaker. Hoya followed him but only replied with a grunt, afraid of making an emotionally and physically exhausted Woohyun upset. Woohyun was somewhat grateful for installing that fear in him. He wasn’t really in the mood for talking today, and maybe he could use it a bit more to his advantage. While the coffee was brewing, Woohyun walked back over to the letters and picked one up from the stack. “Speaking of which, can you give this to that guy you work with?” he asked, handing a thick envelope to Hoya.

“Sunggyu?” Hoya asked for clarification, but still accepted the letter.

“Yea, that’s the bastard,” Woohyun replied with no inflection in his voice.

“Okay,” Hoya drawled out as his eyes dropped to the envelope in his hand. He turned it over a few times, inspecting it, but then shrugged, shoving it into the pockets of his pajama pants. “Is there anything else you need?” he asked.

Woohyun not only had his fear, but his pity too. He gave a tired smile. “Glad you asked,” he muttered and bent over to pick up a list that was also laying on the table. “Can you pick up a few things for me from the apartment? I made a list,” he said as he handed the paper over.

“Sure,” Hoya accepted this task too and immediately folded the list without reading it, then shoving it into the pocket along with the letter. While he was folding, Woohyun began stuffing the rest of the letters into a bag. If he left soon, he’d have enough time to stop by the post office before work and dump off all of his ‘thoughts.’ After he placed the last letter into his bag, Woohyun felt something nudging against his arm. It was a travel mug. Hoya poured him coffee while he was busy and gave it to him. Woohyun mumbled ‘thanks,’ taking the mug and putting it on the table. He then went over to the door and began to put on his coat and shoes. All the while, Hoya was watching him and looked worried. “Woohyun, you’re not going to work like this, are you?” he asked.

Woohyun sighed and zipped up his coat. “I am. I have to,” he mumbled. He knew that he looked like a wreck. He felt like one too. But maybe work would provide him with the distraction that he needed. He walked over to the table, picking up the mug and his bag. “Thanks again. I’ll see you later,” he said and then walked out of the door.

But before the door fully closed, it swung right open again. Woohyun came storming back inside, tossing his bag and shoes on the ground.  “I need pants,” he spat out like a swear and searched the apartment for his pants.

“Yea, you do,” Hoya retorted with a chuckle, but it soon clung to his throat, forcing him to choke it down. When Woohyun finally found his pants, he finally remembered that he’d spilled beer on them last night. He threw them onto the floor with a curse and stomped over to Hoya’s bedroom, forcefully asking if he could borrow his clothes. Hoya allowed him, just like he’d allowed Woohyun to stay over (for what would seem to be an indefinite period of time), use him like a servant, and test his patience. But it was all what Woohyun needed right now, and a good friend, which Hoya guessed would be himself now. Hoya watched Woohyun search through his closet, looking for pants that would fit. Woohyun was pitiful. “What’s with this kid?”

* * *

“That’s a lot of letters.”

Woohyun bit his tongue and plastered a smile across his face at the postal worker’s remark. “I had a lot to say,” he retorted. Luckily the worker took it as a joke and laughed. Woohyun then waited impatiently for the worker to process his payment. Each second ticked by, feeling like a full minute. _Tonight I’ll have my phone_ , Woohyun thought as he watched the letters move across the desk, one by one. _Hopefully, I won’t have any use for it. I have nothing more to say_.. _for now_.

“Are you having a party?” the worker asked as she dealt with the last letter.

Woohyun nodded and handed over his card. “Yea, a pity party.”

“Oh, um, okay,” the worker stammered, flustered. “Have a nice day, sir,” she wished him, at loss for anything more to say, and handed his card back.

Woohyun pulled the tight smile across his face even more so. “I won’t,” he retorted, in a fake cheery tone, and then left before the worker could register what he said. However, he couldn’t help but to say it. There was no way that today could ever turn out to be ‘nice,’ but he still had to suffer through it nonetheless.

* * *

The day passed by in a haze. He could barely recollect what had happened, with whom he talked, which wasn’t good. Who knows what Sunggyu said to his students while he was slightly feverish? _I probably shouldn’t have come today_ , Sunggyu thought as he blew his nose once more that day. He had done so so many times that his nose was now red and raw. He was still in better shape than he was the day before, in some respects. In others, he felt much worse. _What will happen now? Will Woohyun find out? Will we have to keep it a secret forever? Did it even happen? It all could’ve been a dream._ Later that night, Sunggyu had dreamed that he was riding on a goat, trying to outrun a dinosaur that wanted to eat him alive. Somehow that dream seemed more believable than _that_ happening. Sunggyu dropped his gaze to his phone. _What is she up to now?_

“There you are!” Sunggyu whipped his head around (which sent a pain shooting through his head) and saw Hoya standing by his desk, looking exasperated. “Where have you been all day?” the phys ed teacher asked.

“I don’t know,” Sunggyu answered honestly. “Teaching?” He gave a nervous laugh which turned genuine when he took a good look at his co-teacher. Hoya had dark circles, like he hadn’t slept much the night before and his hair was mussed. “What have you been up to?” he asked. “You look like you had a rough night.”

Hoya narrowed his eyes on the other. “Yea, I did. And for some reason, I think you’re to blame,” he replied. His voice was just as tired as he looked.

Sunggyu’s throat tightened. “Me?” he croaked. “Why?”

“I’m like this because of Woohyun,” Hoya revealed, and Sunggyu immediately grew hot and terrified. _Shit, shit, shit_ , curses filled his mind. His eyes dropped to Hoya’s feet, too ashamed to look at him in the face anymore. But although Sunggyu felt like he was a mouse caught in a trap, slowly dying, he still held onto the smallest of hope that he’d escape from this unscatched and undiscovered. That, however, wouldn’t be the case. Hoya continued, “Woohyun is even worse than me because of Maeri, and I assume that you’re a part of it all because of this.” He then pulled out a fat envelope out of his back pocket.

“What is it?” Sunggyu whispered, looking at the envelope from several angles.

“It’s a letter,” Hoya answered bluntly. “Woohyun wrote it. It’s for you.”

Sunggyu stiffened straight up in his seat. “Woohyun wrote me a letter?” Sunggyu was in disbelief. “Why?”

Hoya quickly realized that Sunggyu wouldn’t touch the letter, so he tossed the envelope on the other’s desk with a huff. “That’s what I want to know, Sunggyu,” his voice was even more curt now. “Why is Woohyun staying at my place? Why did he call you a ‘bastard’ this morning and spend all night writing everyone he knows a letter? Why are him and Maeri breaking up?”

“They’re breaking up?!” Sunggyu exclaimed. His heart stopped in his chest. His mouth twitched up, but then he bit it back. He quickly fixed his eyes on the letter, avoiding the other.

Hoya had caught it though, that quick smile. He crossed his arms over his chest. “I _think_ I have an idea of what happened. I don’t teach math but I can add two and two together. But I don’t like the solution that I’m getting. I want to be wrong,” he said. Then Hoya’s eyes were drawn to the letter, still unopened, untouched by Sunggyu on the desk. He sighed. “Open it. Read it. It’s not going to read itself like the ones in Harry Potter.”

 _If Woohyun could do that, I’m sure he would_. Sunggyu pushed the letter further back onto his desk with his pen. “I’ll read it later,” he told the other.

Hoya huffed. “When I’m not here?” Sunggyu didn’t answer that question with words but looked up at the other with a sheepish smile. Hoya then raised his hands, finally giving up. “Fine. I’ll go,” he grumbled. He shoved his hands into the pocket of his coat as he walked away from Sunggyu’s desk, muttering below his breath, “This is why I like Dongwoo. Dongwoo tells me things. Dongwoo would read me the letter.”

“Dongwoo wouldn’t do what I did,” Sunggyu replied even though Hoya could no longer hear him, and that was for the better. He then let out a deep breath and gazed back down at the letter, tapping his pen along its edges. “Woohyun knows. Woohyun knows, and he wrote me a letter...What the Hell?” He put down his pen and finally touched the envelope, picking it up gingerly as if it held explosives. He then lifted it up, holding it towards the light and trying to peer through it. “It’s not written in blood is it?” He brought it back down. Looking up at the florescent light made his head hurt even more. All of this made his head hurt. He dropped the letter onto his lap and rubbed his temples with the insides of his wrists, shutting his eyes tightly. “No, the letter is too long. He’d be dead if he wrote it all in blood.” Sunggyu dropped his hands, letting his arms hang at his sides, and threw his head back, eyes still shut. “What’s the worst that can happen?” He opened his eyes again and picked up the letter. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know,” he muttered and ripped the envelope opened. He took out the letter and began to read it, chewing nervously on the pad of his thumb as he did so.

To begin with, Sunggyu didn’t know that Woohyun knew so many curse words. And he had to hand it to him, some of the curse were pretty inventive. Had it been any other situation, when they weren’t directed towards him, Sunggyu would’ve laughed. But now he couldn’t even breath. His stomach sank deeper and deeper, with each line that he read, until it reached the soles of his feet. The drawing of the special circle of Hell reserved for traitorous friends made Sunggyu shiver and was going to give him nightmares that night for certain.

Sunggyu could’ve stopped reading at any point in time and threw the letter into the trash, never to be seen again. But that wasn’t right. That wasn’t what Sunggyu deserved. This was his punishment: to be cursed at relentlessly by Woohyun (and Sunggyu was expecting a second round of insults in person). He needed to know how much he’d hurt Woohyun, and Woohyun wasn’t afraid of letting him know.

The teacher puffed out his cheeks and let out a deep breath as he turned over to the last page of Woohyun’s harangue. “Huh?” Sunggyu gripped the page with both hands, sitting up straighter in his seat, as he read the first line again. Woohyun’s tone had completely changed, along with the topic. He was talking about Maeri now, more specifically, Maeri with Sunggyu. He let out a short laugh. This was unbelievable, so ridiculous, but at the same time, it was so Nam Woohyun.

“Where’s my phone?” Sunggyu muttered as he tossed the pages onto the desk and his hands searched for the phone. When he found it, he scrolled through the contacts and made a call. It wasn’t until the phone was ringing when he realized what he was doing. His emotions had driven him to make the call. After everything that had happened, he couldn’t keep this to himself. But he had to for just a bit longer. The phone kept ringing and ringing until an automated voice said that the phone had been turned off. _What is she doing?_

“Ah, work,” he thought aloud. His eyes flew to the clock. She was definitely still at work, like he was, Sunggyu had to remind himself. He then gathered his things, getting ready to leave, as he searched for the business’ number on the internet. He shrugged his coat on and walked out the door, while making the call. This time, it was answered within seconds.

“Hello. Grey’s Auction House. How may I help you?”

“Hm?” Sunggyu wasn’t expecting to hear a male’s voice on the other side, but he assumed that he know whose it was. “Sungjong? Is that you?”

“Yes?” Sungjong replied hesitantly.

“This is Sunggyu. Is Maeri there?” he quickly asked, closing his eyes as he did so.

“Oh, Maeri-noona isn’t here,” Sungjong’s voice had fallen down lower as he was talking more casually. “She called in sick.”

Sunggyu halted in his step, in the middle of the hallway. “Sick?”

“Yup,” Sungjong responded nonchalantly, but then his tone took a turn: “But, hyung, why are _you_ asking for…”

“Aah,” Sunggyu yelped and hung up the phone out of panic. He immediately regretted it, hitting the side of his head with his phone. _Stupid. It’s all already out there. That’ll just make me look worse_ , he reminded himself. _He already knows. Soon everyone will know. Hoya already suspects, and_...He pulled the last page of the letter out of his pocket and read the last line again. _And I know what I have to do_.

* * *

 

This was her punishment, dying alone. Maeri felt like she was dying right now. She was completely sapped of her strength, robbed of her sense of mind, and frozen yet on fire. She didn’t even know if she was breathing, but she could still see, which meant she was still alive. _Unless I’m a ghost_ , Maeri thought as she stirred on the couch, where she stayed ever since Woohyun left. And she really felt like a ghost of her former self now. She’d forgotten about work and finally called in at 11, saying that she was sick and offered no apologies, no excuses. It wasn’t like her to be so rude and uncaring. _But I guess that’s what I am now_. Maeri also had no desire, but to haunt her couch, watching the door, waiting for him to come back. _I’ll die like this. Then I will haunt this place for real. My grudge...my grudge will be those two men._

Those two men, Woohyun and Sunggyu, they were the reason why she ended up like this. They were the reason for her demise. First, Woohyun: if she had rejected his proposal, he would’ve gotten sulky and their relationship gradually would’ve fallen apart, piece by piece. Every single time they would’ve met up, Woohyun would mention how she rejected his offer, rejected him, either as a joke or to guilt her into it. She knew how Woohyun was, but she cared for him and his feelings greatly. He was the most important man in her life, at the time. And at the time, Woohyun’s idea did seem good. Who else was better for Maeri?

Second, Kim Sunggyu, who had delivered the final blow, striking her heart. He was even worse than Woohyun. Woohyun would gradually leave her life, but if Maeri refused Sunggyu, he was going to leave all at once. Maeri couldn’t have that because...she didn’t want that. But like with Woohyun, what else was she supposed to do at that moment? Leave?

“Oh my gosh,” she grumbled, turning herself away from the door. “That’s what I should’ve done!” Instead of leaving, at that time, she’d lost her mind. She’d given into things she shouldn’t have. However, Maeri knew herself well. If she had the opportunity to go back in time, she would’ve done it all over again. _Keeping things the way that they were wasn’t right either_ , she reminded herself. _If I could’ve just done it differently_...

There was a knock at her door. Maeri rolled back over, facing the door, wondering if it was just her imagination. Then there was more knocking, more insistent this time. “Who?” It wasn’t Woohyun. He could’ve just unlocked the door and come inside. _Who could it be?_ The knocking still hadn’t stopped, so Maeri slipped off the couch and shuffled towards the door. Once there, she peered through the spy hole and gasped at what she saw. She quickly covered her mouth to stop any other noise from escaping.

_I didn’t want to lose you, but I didn’t think you’d stick to me like this! Aish, why are you here?_

Fed up with being ignored, he finally spoke from the other side of the door, “Maeri, it’s me. Sunggyu. Kim Sunggyu.”

 _I know_. Maeri closed her eyes tightly and pressed her hand closer to her mouth. She’d been holding her breath this whole time, and couldn’t last much longer. She felt a tickle creeping up her throat. _No, no, please_...She was sent into a coughing fit and wheezing. “Shit,” she cursed, after realizing her cover was blown. “Shit, shit,” then she cursed at herself for cursing. Maeri then fell down to the floor with a heavy thump, covering her mouth with both hands, determined not to let any more noises slip past. At this point, she’d rather die than open up the door.

Sunggyu’s sigh was so loud that Maeri could hear it from the other side.  “I know you’re in there.  Just answer the door,” he sounded irritated. Maeri shook her head. _I’m sorry. I can’t_. “Are you really not going to answer? I can hear you!” he raised his voice. Maeri kept shaking her head. _I’m sorry. I’m sorry_. There was another sigh, heavier this time. Maeri could hear something drag against the door. “Really, Maeri? Are you really going to do this?” Maeri dropped her hands to her lap. _I have to_ , she bit her lip, holding that back. Sunggyu finally gave up. “Okay, then. I’m leaving.” Then Maeri heard his footsteps click down the hallway, further and further away from her.

Maeri let out a breath in relief. _I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve to be happy_ , she thought as she crawled on the floor, towards the couch, but she didn’t get far. She fell into another coughing fit and laid flat on the floor. _I deserve to die. Like this_. She curled up into a ball.

“Maeri, it’s me again. Sunggyu.”

“AACK!” Maeri screamed and flipped onto her stomach. She hadn’t expected him to come back. She didn’t even hear his footsteps. _He’s really going to be the death of me_.

She could hear Sunggyu chuckle at her reaction. He spoke through it, “Just make sure that you eat something today. And ramyun doesn’t count.” Maeri crawled up to her knees, staring at her coffee table were a cold pot of ramyun was sitting. _How did he know?_ “Make some porridge. And sleep,” he told her. “I’m leaving.”

Maeri’s head whipped towards the door, making her slightly dizzy, but once the two doors that she was seeing became one again, she sat down on her behind, staring at it. _Is he really gone this time?_ She waited and waited. But there was no more knocking, no more voices. _He’s really gone._ Maeri half-smiled but her throat tightened. “Good,” she croaked. She then crawled the rest of the way to the couch and climbed on top of it. She wrapped herself in her blankets, covering herself from head to toe, shut out from the rest of the world. It was stifling, hot underneath those blankets, but Maeri had to stay there. She was hiding. _I’m not here. I’m not anywhere. I’m already gone_.

“Yoo Maeri!”

“He found me!” Maeri gasped, cautiously peering between her covers and seeing the door. It was a little less than an hour later and Sunggyu was back. But this time, Maeri knew better than to go near the door again. No, this time, she’d stay on the couch, a safe distance away. He wouldn’t be able to hear her. There’d be no way he’d know that she was inside.

“I went out and got you some porridge. I’m going to set it in front of the door, okay? Get it before it gets cold. I’m going now, okay? I’m just setting this right here...” Maeri heard something being dropped in front of the door. “...and now I going to leave. Bye!” Sunggyu announced, and footfalls followed soon after.

Maeri poked her head out of her blankets. “Sunggyu?” she whispered lowly, testing to see if he was still there. There was no response. She sighed in relief. “He’s gone!” She wiggled a bit more, loosening the blankets around her, giving herself more range of motion, and then stood up. Not picking up her feet, she shuffled over to the door and carefully opened it up just a crack so that she could peer through. She saw nothing but an empty hallway and part of the black plastic bag waiting for her on the ground. And no Sunggyu. Happy, Maeri opened the door wider and crouched down to pick up the bag.

“Got ya!”

“Ack!” Maeri screamed and toppled onto the floor, landing hard on her butt. Sunggyu had jumped out from behind the door.

He smiled proudly. “You’re so easy to trick,” he teased and then stepped over her to enter the apartment.

“Wh-what?” Maeri stammered as she rolled over, watching him walk over her and trying to grab at his ankles, but she narrowly missed them. “Where are you going? You can’t go in there! No!” she whined, getting up on her knees and then slowly, clumsily onto her feet. When she was up straight, and her dizzy world straightened out, she saw Sunggyu walking around the room, picking up her used tissues (wincing) and the cold pot of ramyun. Maeri took a few steps inside leaned herself against the wall, steadying herself, as she watched him. “Sunggyu, what are you doing?” she asked.

“Taking care of you,” he plainly replied. Sunggyu then looked over at her. “Pick up the bag,” he said and gestured with his elbow towards the porridge still out in the hall.

Maeri went back, picked up the bag, and returned to her spot on the wall. “Why?” she asked with a raspy voice. Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t talked to anybody all day. Maeri cleared her throat and tried asking again, “Why are you doing this?”

Sunggyu grew gloomy. “Why do you think?” he turned the question back on her. He then walked into the kitchen, putting the pot in the sink and disposing of the tissues. When he came back, he leaned in the doorway, across from Maeri, and asked her in a grave tone. “I’m serious. Why do you think I’m here?”

“You, um, you like…” Maeri stuttered as she dropped her gaze onto the floor, and her voice dropped along with it, falling into uncertainty, “You like me? Maybe?”

“If it was just that, I wouldn’t be here,” he responded.

Maeri winced. _He’s going to make me say it_. “Because…” she began but lost confidence again. She then forced out a hacking cough, giving her a reason to stop and trying to gain his pity. It didn’t work.

“What?” he pressured her a bit more.

Maeri groaned and pressed herself against the wall, whimpering. But Sunggyu wasn’t relenting, even in his gaze. So she pulled a blanket over her head, covering her reddening face. “Because I like you,” she finally said it.

“Yea, you do,” Sunggyu sounded happy once more. Maeri heard him come closer and felt pats caressing her head. “You dork,” he teased and removed the blanket from her face. When Maeri could see more than just the inside of her blanket again, she saw Sunggyu only inches away. When she looked up, he was smiling. She’d hate to take it away but..

“We can’t,” Maeri responded, taking a faltering step back. “Never. You should go. You need to go.” Her head craned back to the door behind her. “What if he…”

“He won’t. Woohyun won’t come back,” he cut her off. Maeri’s head snapped back towards him. Sunggyu had his arms across his chest, and he wasn’t looking her in the eye. “The real reason why I’m here is because Woohyun told me to. Trust me, I wouldn’t be here otherwise,” he admitted. With a heavy sigh, he uncrossed his arms and pulled a few folded pages out of his pocket. He then raised his gaze back up. “I think you should read this.”

Maeri took the pages from his hand, but kept her eyes on his. “What is it?” she asked.

“A letter...from Woohyun.”

“HUH?!” Maeri gasped and dropped the letter onto the floor.

Sunggyu chuckled. “Scary, isn’t it?” he joked.

Maeri smiled weakly. “Terrifying.”

* * *

 

The letter was just as terrifying as Maeri expected it to be. “I didn’t know that he knew so many curses,” she remarked as she flipped the first page back and forth, scanning it while wincing.

“Right? I think he used a thesaurus,” Sunggyu added. The two of them were now sitting on the couch. Maeri was still wrapped in her cocoon of blankets, but there wasn’t much else between them. Sunggyu was leaning in closely in order to read the letter along with her.

“He reads a lot though,” she remarked. “He could’ve learned some through that.”

“Maybe,” Sunggyu gave in. “But what I want to know is where he learned how to do this.” He took the second page, the one with the drawing, and put it in her hands. “Look,” he urged her pointing a figure that was tied to a stake and being eaten alive by a dog.

“Is that you?” she asked, leaning closer to the drawing and squinting her eyes.

“Eung,” Sunggyu grunted.

“These are very detailed. Better than that one student drew. It’s impressive,” Maeri said as she turned the page in her hands, analyzing it from every angle.

Sunggyu snorted. “Impressive is one word for it. You can stop looking at that. You shouldn’t read the captions,” he told her and tried to pull the page out of grip.

“Why? Why? Why?” she argued, trying to hold onto it. “It’s interesting.”

“No, no, no. You don’t want to see drawings of me dying 100 different ways. It would make you sad,” he insisted, to which Maeri scoffed. “You like me. Me dying should make you sad,” he reminded her. Maeri slackened her grip, growing flustered, and Sunggyu was able to get the drawing from her. He grinned a bit in triumph as he put the drawing aside. He then picked up the last page of the letter and handed it to her. “Instead read this. This is the important part.”

“More important than him calling you a succubus?” Maeri joked and cocked her head. “I don’t know.”

Sunggyu shoved her lightly. “Trust me. It is. Just read it,” he told her. “Go on.”

Out of everything that Maeri had read, this last page was the most terrifying. It was scary how well Woohyun knew her. It was scary how cold Woohyun’s tone was when he wrote about her. He knew her, better than she knew herself, but Woohyun was writing as if he were writing about a stranger. A strangled noise escaped her throat as she read. _I had no idea you felt like this_. This wasn’t even about how he felt after she cheated, but beforehand, when she unknowingly had become more distant with him, when Woohyun could see her heart going towards another. _He knew it. He probably knew about my feelings before I did_. But he’d ignored it, the best that he could, because Maeri had been faithful regardless. She _had_ been.

It was also scary how he divulged about her past boyfriends to Sunggyu, how they started and how they ended, including her first love Myungsoo and himself. Maeri groaned and cast a quick glance over to the man next to her. _What did he think when he read about all of this? It’s so detailed_.

Sunggyu lifted his eyes from the page and met hers. “You done reading?” he asked.

“Ah no,” she stuttered. “Just a few more lines left.” And her eyes fell back down to the page. Revealing Maeri’s torrid love life (or lack thereof), all lead up to one point: to Maeri, Sunggyu was something different, something special, special enough for her to cheat for the first time in her life, and on the person who least deserved it.

However, the scariest part the letter was the last line: “For my last act as a friend to either of you...I give you two my blessing. Be happy.”

“Oh, you’re crying. Why?” Maeri hadn’t even noticed that she was crying until Sunggyu started to wipe away her tears. Honestly, for a woman who once had dry tears, she had cried so much the past 24 hours that she thought she’d grow calluses on her cheeks. Now, she couldn’t even feel them fall.

 _He’s gone. Woohyun’s gone. He hates me this much_. Maeri drew in a shaky breath, but began coughing again. Sunggyu immediately pulled back. She began wiping her own face, still coughing. _I’ll never see him again_. Her chest and throat constricted, and now she was coughing more than crying. Maeri thought that she’d see him at least once more. She’d been waiting for him. All she wanted was to talk with him again, to try to make things right between them, or at least better than this, but now she’d never get that chance. _I’ll never see him again_.

While she was having this internal dilemma, Sunggyu had put his arm around her and drew her in closer, wiping her face with her blanket. “Are you okay? You sound like you’re dying,” he sounded worried.

“I’m okay,” she whispered through her raw throat. “I think I finally understand.”

“Understand what? Woohyun?” Sunggyu asked. He sounded like he was smiling, probably because Maeri wasn’t a blubbering mess anymore.

“No, the people in dramas,” Maeri replied, which earned a laugh from Sunggyu. Maeri lightly tapped him, in reprimand. “No, I’m serious. I feel like I understand every damn drama now,” she insisted, scowling. “Like when you think the couple can finally be together, but they aren’t for shitty reasons. I understand those shitty reasons now!”

“Wait. What?” Sunggyu stammered. Maeri looked up, and he was now frowning, deeply, and scooted away from her. “Do...do you not want us to be together?”

“I, uh…” she stopped to think about how to phrase this. She didn’t need both men that she cared deeply about to hate her. Her tired mind wasn’t cooperating well, though. “I do. I really do, but at the same time…”

“You feel guilty,” Sunggyu had found the word she was searching for.

“I do,” Maeri agreed and nodded. “I am though. I am guilty. I’ve done him a great wrong. I really did. I’m the biggest traitor in the country. I can’t believe. I can’t believe I hurt him, my best friend. And now he’s gone,” the last sentence she could barely get out because she started crying again. No, she was bawling right now, crying so much that her head was hurting. She was in the most pain now than she’d been all day, in body and soul. And while she was writhing in this pain, she was still able to feel Sunggyu leave her side. _Of course he’d leave. I’d run away from me too. I’m a mess. I haven’t even cried this much in front of Woohyun. I don’t think I’ve ever cried this hard since I was a child_.  

“Here.” Maeri raised her head from her hands. Sunggyu was in front of her with a glass of water.

“Thank you,” Maeri squeaked as she took the glass from him with both hands.

“This too,” he said as he took her hand, flipped it over, and pressed a few pills into her palm. “You’re exhausted. You need to sleep.”

Maeri sniggered. “So you’re drugging me?”

Sunggyu gave a small smile as he sat back down next to her. “More or less,” he joked right back. “But I promise I won’t do anything.”

“You better not. I know where you live,” she teased. “What is this anyway?” she asked. Sunggyu showed her the bag that was on the table. It was your typical cold medicine, which _would_ help her sleep. Satisfied, she popped the pills in her mouth and swallowed them down along with the water.

“Aigoo, good job,” he praised and patted her head. Maeri looked up at him, with cheeks still puffed out and filled with water. Smiling, he lightly poked at one of those cheeks. _I want to_...Her eyes fell down to those smiling lips, and then further down to her own lap.

She swallowed the rest of the water down hard before talking, “I don’t think I can do this. I can’t be with you right now without feeling ashamed.”

“What? But what about me?” Sunggyu blubbered. He stirred in his spot, agitated, and faced her. “You tortured me for so long. Don’t you feel guilty for that?”

Maeri shut her eyes and tightened her grip on the cup. She took in a deep breath. _I’m stuck again. This isn’t unfair. I’m wrong no matter what I do_. When she exhaled, Maeri also let out an, “I do.” She opened her eyes and lifted up her chin, challenging him, “How was I supposed to know that I liked you? I’m not supposed to but...” She bit her lip. _I should’ve know. I did know. I should’ve just told Woohyun, as soon as I realized it. It’s my fault, all my fault_. Maeri lost all of her confidence and deflated, leaning hard into the cushions of the couch, hiding half of her face in it. “But you’re right. It’s not fair for you to be punished either for something that I did,” she grumbled in a muffled voice.

Surprisingly, Sunggyu deflated as well, letting out a long and deep breath as he hung his head. A few seconds later, he joined Maeri, pressing himself into the cushions of the couch and matching her eye level. “I was joking,” he confessed in an uneasy voice, looking guilty himself. He then dropped his gaze. “Besides, I kissed you too. It’s not like you did that by yourself. Heck, I kissed you first,” Sunggyu spoke the last part with a slight laugh, but he soon grew grim again as he continued talking, “You’re not the only one with feelings you shouldn’t have. You’re not the only one who hurt Woohyun.” At that, Maeri couldn’t help but to feel a bit relieved. She still was guilty but at least she had an accomplice to share her penance with. Her own feelings were reflected onto his face. That had comforted her so much that she nearly smiled, but then Sunggyu pulled himself away and got onto his feet. As  he was pulling down his shirt and straightening his clothes, he turned back to Maeri. “I think you’re right. We should hold off on this, not only for Woohyun’s sake but for yours as well,” he said.

“Thank you for understanding,” Maeri replied. Now she was really smiling, brightly. “You’re a good person.”

Sunggyu snorted. “No, I’m not” he denied it. “I’m really not.”

Maeri got up with him, teetering on her feet. Her head was lighter. The medicine was kicking in, slowly but surely, or she was just exhausted by everything that happened, after having her emotions batter her sore. But even though she was tired, that didn’t make what she said next any less sincere, “You are to me.”

“Okay,” Sunggyu gave in, bowing his head to hide his shy smile. But then he bit it back and announced, “I’ll get going then, and let you rest. You look like you’re about to fall over.”

“N-no, no I’m not,” Maeri argued as she stumbled; just from standing up she’d lost her balance. She hardly noticed though. Her eyes were drooping so low that she could barely see. “I’m fine.”

“Whatever,” Sunggyu replied with a scoff, still grinning. He then began to walk towards the door, with Maeri following closely him his footsteps. “The porridge is right here, okay? Eat it,” he reminded her as they passed by the bag. Maeri nodded while making a small noise. He chuckled and began to put on his coat and shoes. “If you need anything, call me,” he told her. Maeri nodded once more, but that wasn’t enough for him. “You’ll call, right?”

“Yes,” Maeri answered with words and leaned against the wall for support. Her cheek was smushed against the wall, distorting her face, eyes fully shut now.

“Keep your phone charged too.”

“Okay,” Maeri agreed with an embarrassed giggle. She had no idea where her phone was, or her blankets. The wall was cold. She hugged herself tightly, trying to get warm.

“Just one thing before I go,” Sunggyu’s voice sounded apprehensive. Maeri opened her eyes just a crack. He looked nervous too. “When you said that you’d be ashamed...you aren’t ashamed of me, right?”

Maeri’s eyes snapped wide open, and she stood up straight. She felt wide awake now. “I could never,” she quickly replied, her voice stronger than it’d been all afternoon. “I could never be ashamed of you. I’m ashamed of what I did, but, at the same time…” The words halted in her throat. The next part was hard for her to admit aloud, so her voice was small, just above a whisper, “If I went back in time, I would probably do it again.” She hated the thought, that she’d still hurt Woohyun. She was afraid what Sunggyu would think about that. But Maeri couldn’t deny it. If that moment were to occur again, she’d still feel how she felt. That was something that wouldn’t change, no matter how many times she’d relive that moment. She’d still like Sunggyu and wouldn’t be able to hold back. She’d make the mistake again especially if she knew that Sunggyu would end up here, by her side, right now. _But Woohyun_...

“Really? Why?” Luckily Sunggyu looked _pleasantly_ surprised by what she said.

“I had to do it,” Maeri answered. _I really thought you’d leave if I didn’t._

“You _had_  to kiss me?” Sunggyu took a step forward and teased her.

“Eung,” she hummed. “Or else I’d...die.”

Against her expectations, he didn’t snort or scoff at her; instead, he bent down and kissed her. “I wouldn’t want you to die,” he spoke lowly, still close, and then he pulled away a bit further and caressed her cheek with his knuckle. “We aren’t good at this waiting-thing, are we?”

“Nope,” Maeri replied with a pop of her lips. Then she fell forward slightly, relying on him for support. Like just moments before when she smashed her cheek against the wall, her cheek was now pressed into the woolen fibers of his sweater. “We suck. We totally suck at it.” She felt Sunggyu’s laugh reverberate in his chest, and she laughed along with him. And when she felt his arms wrap around her, she did the same, but held onto him more tightly. Maeri sighed, contented. “I like you. I like Gyu,” she declared, closing her eyes.

“I like you too, Maeri,” he responded with a laugh.

Maeri then opened her eyes, as if she realized something. “Maybe we don’t have wait,” she suggested. “I don’t want to anymore.”

Sunggyu snorted. “You change your mind quickly,” he teased.

“I can’t think straight,” Maeri excused herself. “My head hurts. Everything’s fuzzy,” she complained. While she was talking, Sunggyu had let her go and spun her around. Now he was guiding her back to the couch with his hands on her shoulder. When they got closer, she pointed to a large, brown lump that was sitting down in her spot. “What is this? Oh my blanket,” she murmured out an answer to her own question and picked up the blanket as she crawled back into her spot. After she settled in and spread the blanket tediously on her lap, Maeri looked up at the other, who had slipped off his shoes and coat again at the doorway. “I’m a mess,” she announced and then tried to blow the bangs away that were sticking to her forehead.

“I know,” Sunggyu muttered, helping her out by pushing the strands out of her face. “A big mess.”

“Aish,” Maeri cursed suddenly, scaring him. But it’d slipped out of her mouth as she felt another wave of guilt crashing down on her. She felt bad for being selfish again. “We should wait...should we?” she directed the question to Sunggyu, hoping that he had the (miraculous) right answer.

But he had none to give. “Maybe this isn’t the right time to be making decisions,” Sunggyu replied sternly. He then stood straight up again and rubbed his eyes roughly. “My head hurts too. I’m still sick,” it was his turn to whine.

“You are?” Maeri gasped. Sunggyu dropped his hands, revealing his still pale and tired face, and nodded with a deep pout. Maeri furrowed her brow in worry. _Of course, he’s still sick. He looked like he was going to die yesterday. He couldn’t have recovered that quickly. I can’t believe I forgot_. Maeri then grabbed his wrists and pulled him down. “Sit down,” she urged him. He didn’t need much convincing (or pulling); he quickly took a spot next to her. Once he was settled, Maeri spread part of her blanket over his lap. “Here. Better?”

“Eung,” he grunted and scooted closer to get more of the blanket (and probably to get closer to Maeri as well). For a lack of a pillow, Sunggyu rest his head on her shoulder. While he did so, Maeri fiddled with the blanket, lifting it higher to cover the both of them better.

Once fully settled, Maeri placed her cheek on his head. “What are we going to do?” she mused out loud. She closed her eyes. “What should Maeri and Sunggyu do?”

“Sleep.” Maeri didn’t realize that she spoke out loud, and so she didn’t expect Sunggyu to answer. “Sunggyu and Maeri should sleep,” he repeated and quickly followed up by a yawn as he nestled in.

“Maeri likes that,” she replied back.

Sunggyu groaned, “Maeri should stop talking and go to sleep.”

“Maeri likes that too,” she intentionally went against his wishes and kept talking.

Sunggyu sputtered into a laugh. “What doesn’t Maeri like?” he asked.

“You. Ow!” Maeri felt a pinch at her side. “I’m joking. I’m joking. I like you.”

“I know,” Sunggyu responded in a cheeky voice. “Now stop saying that you like me, and let’s sleep,” he suggested through another yawn. _He must be tired_ , Maeri thought as her tired eyes fluttered closed once more. If only she could shut her brain as easily. _He has no parents. His sister is miles away. Now with Woohyun gone, who else will be by his side? Who else will take care of him? Just me?_

_What am I going to do?_

* * *

When Sunggyu woke up hours later, he found himself in a precarious position. Maeri was still asleep, passed out and drooling, but at some point in her sleep, she’d fall backwards onto the couches, no longer sitting up but lying on her side. And Sunggyu, he had gone from using her shoulder as a pillow, to using her hip as one (which was cushier and all around made for a better pillow but also made the situation much more embarrassing). When he tried to carefully extract himself from the situation, Maeri stirred awake, apparently not as dead asleep as he thought she was. She didn’t seem to mind Sunggyu hovering awkwardly over her hips, or she was too tired to realize it. Maeri just asked him what time it was and then who he was. Yep, Maeri was slightly out of her mind.

Before he left to let her sleep some more, Sunggyu (sort of successfully) reheated the porridge and tried to get her to eat it. After a few spoonfuls, she claimed to be too nauseous to eat anymore, and so Sunggyu finished the rest of it. There was no point in letting lukewarm porridge go to waste, and he was hungry as it was past dinner time. And so he ate, and Maeri mumbled on about some strange dream she had about a campfire and wild wolves in the forest that wanted to eat her friend.

“Sounds like a nightmare,” Sunggyu remarked.

Maeri rubbed her eyes. “Eung, it was. It was scary. I hate having people die in my dreams. It leaves me in a funk,” she mumbled lowly.

“Your friend died in the dream?” he deduced, and Maeri bobbed her head in reply. “Who was it? Your friend?”

“Just an old friend from high school,” she answered. Her hands then went for the now empty bowl. “Are you done?” she asked. “Let me clean it up.”

“Ah, no let me,” he argued as he arrested the bowl from her hands. “You just go back to sleep.”

“Okay,” Maeri gave in and began to clamber back onto the couch. “But what if the wolves come back?” she asked as she laid down and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

“Eh, they won’t. There are no wolves here, silly,” he assured her. “Go to sleep.”

“Okay,” Maeri yielded and closed her eyes. “Good night, Gyu.”

“Good night, Maeri,” he whispered back. He then left to clean up the dishes in the kitchen. When he was done, Sunggyu came back and found Maeri snoring, fast asleep. There was nothing cute at all about how she looked, mouth wide open and hair in a nest, but the word still fell from his lips as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to her head. Then he left.

It was odd, their first night of, well, whatever he and Maeri were now. They weren’t exactly dating, but they weren’t ‘just friends’ now either. And how they spent the night made their relationship even more ambiguous. All they did was sleep together. Sunggyu sniggered at that, ‘sleeping together.’ The only thing ‘hot’ about the night was Maeri’s fever, and the only things Sunggyu took off that night were his coat and shoes. But his smile fell from his face at the recollection of their only conversation that night: should they get together? Or should they not? They didn’t even answer that question. _All we did was sleep. We didn’t resolve anything_ , he thought with a groan as he unlocked the door to his own apartment. _Even though Woohyun gave us his blessing, it still doesn’t feel right_.

“Where did you just come back from?”

“Huh?” Sunggyu lifted his head after placing his shoes on the floor. Dongwoo was standing right in front of him, hands on his hips and a great frown on his face. Sunggyu had never seen him this stern before.

“It’s late,” Dongwoo stated and pointed towards the clock on the wall.

“I was out,” Sunggyu answered with an apologetic smile. But Dongwoo’s icy exterior didn’t melt away, so Sunggyu elaborated, “Just out with a friend? Is that not okay?”

“Liar,” Dongwoo sneered.

“What?”

“Sunggyu, I love you, but I’m _so_ angry and disappointed in you right now,” Dongwoo spoke through gritted teeth. He then turned his head to the side. “I can’t even bear look at you.” Dongwoo then took a step and picked up the fishbowl from the countertop. “ _We_ can’t look at you,” he declared as he splayed his hand across the bowl in order to protect Little Woohyun’s innocent eyes, and then Dongwoo stomped into the bedroom with the beta fish and slammed the door shut.

“D-dongwoo,” Sunggyu stammered. He wasn’t expecting Dongwoo to welcome him back home with open arms, but he’d never guess that he’d come home to this reception. Jang Dongwoo had never been this frosty to Sunggyu his entire life. “Wh-what? What was that about?” Sunggyu muttered under his breath as he stepped inside the apartment. The answer soon became clear. On the countertop, right next to where Little Woohyun normally was, there was an open letter. Sunggyu narrowed his eyes on the envelope. “Just how many of those did he send out?” He was about to pick up the letter, when Dongwoo burst through his bedroom door, without Little Woohyun but with his coat and hat on. “Oh, where are you going?” Sunggyu blubbered, thrusting his hand into his pocket and acting like he wasn’t going to violate Dongwoo’s privacy.

“Out,” Dongwoo’s voice was as cold as the winter air blowing outside. Leaving behind that one word, Dongwoo marched out the door.

Suddenly, Sunggyu didn’t want to know what was in Dongwoo’s letter anymore. He just wanted to go to bed and just sleep the rest of the night away.

* * *

Sleep wouldn’t come to everyone that night. After a long day at work (during which he had snapped at Sungyeol for being too cheery and felt guilty about it but didn’t care at the same time), Woohyun had spent the night walking at the park nearby. He had planned to walk until he felt hungry, but he never did. Now, as it was past dinner time, he decided to walk until he felt tired enough to go to sleep, but that didn’t even seem to be working either. Although his legs were dragging on the ground, and he was limping along like a zombie, Woohyun’s mind was more awake than ever.

 _I’m going to die at this rate_ , he thought. _Yes, I am going to die and then haunt her for the rest of her life. No one does this to me and gets away with it. New plan! I’m going to walk until I die!_

But like the rest of his ‘well laid-out’ plans, this one fell into pieces too. After taking a turn on the path, Woohyun noticed a young woman walking towards him with a dog pulling her down the path by its leash. Hani. Woohyun scowled; his already dark mood became blacker. The last time he’d run in with Hani, she tried to ignore him and then pretended to be a mere acquaintance of his. _I guess that’s all we are without Maeri to connect us anymore_ , he thought as he hung his head, preparing to ignore her as he walked past. _We’re better off just being strangers._ _I didn’t even know she had a dog. That’s how unfamiliar with each other we are._ But they hadn’t completely ignored each other as they passed by. Both of them nodded and wished the other a good night. However, it didn’t end there.

“Ack! Koko! Don’t jump! No! Get down!” The dog wouldn’t let Woohyun pass it by and jumped on him. Hani was doing her best to pull the dog away and managed to get him off of Woohyun. Unfortunately, their mutual plans of ignoring each other fell through. Now they were forced to talk. Hani smiled meekly and apologized, “I’m sorry. He’s my dad’s dog. He doesn’t listen to me well.” She turned her attention down to the dog. “Koko, bad boy,” Hani reprimanded sternly wagging her finger at the dog, but Koko truly didn’t listen to her. He tried to get closer to Woohyun again. “Sorry,” Hani apologized once more for being unable to restrain the dog.

“No, it’s okay,” Woohyun dismissed it as a problem and got down onto his knees, approaching the dog himself. “He’s just friendly, aren’t you?” he cooed at the dog and pet it. Woohyun then looked over at Hani, who had crouched down along with him while keeping a close eye on her pup. “He’s cute. He’s your dad’s?” Woohyun asked.

Hani nodded, “Yea, my sister and I got it for him before I left for school so that he wouldn’t be alone,” she explained. “My dad is not too creative with names.”

“I think it suits him,” Woohyun remarked. And to him it truly did, the dog’s coat was dark brown and the dog seemed to be as sweet as chocolate (with perhaps a bit of a bitter bite to it). Although petting this dog was the highlight of his gloomy day, Woohyun couldn’t spend all night doing so. “Well…” he began and stood up again. It was time to leave. Things were quickly becoming more awkward, and they had already successfully exchanged more words than last time. And Woohyun was about ready to call it a night, or at least his legs did. They nearly gave out at he tried to get up from his crouch.

Hani watched him, worried. “Woohyun, are you okay? You don’t look so good,” she pointed out. Hani’s head then swung over to look at where Woohyun had just walked from. “Where’s…”

“Well, I’m not. I’m not doing good,” Woohyun cut her off before she could ask the question. Hani whipped her head back towards him. Now not only she looked worried but confused too. Before she could think of asking anything else, Woohyun explained, “Maeri and I broke up.” He shook his head and amended the statement, “ _I_ broke up with her.” It was the first time he had managed to say it out loud. He broke off his engagement with Maeri. They were done. His chest felt one iota lighter after admitting that.

“No! What?” Hani exclaimed in disbelief. “Why?” She stood still, even though Koko was barking and pulling at the leash to continue walking. She wasn’t going to leave. “What happened?”

“She...god, this is embarrassing,” Woohyun faltered almost as soon as he started, and his legs faltered again too. So he finally decided to take a rest from all of his walking, for his body at least, and sat down at a bench right off the path. Hani joined him, quiet but the look on her face was speaking volumes. Her mind was racing, running through every possible scenario that could’ve lead to Woohyun and Maeri breaking up. _I bet she didn’t think of this one_. Woohyun inhaled, finally gathering enough breath and courage to say, “Did you know that she and Sunggyu had a thing... _have_ a thing for each other?” Hani stiffened and she refused to look over at Woohyun or answer his question. She just kept patting Koko’s head. But that reaction was an answer enough for Woohyun. He cringed and buried his face in his hands, utterly embarrassed. “Oh my god, you do.” _Who else knew? Did everyone know? Why didn’t anyone tell me?_

Hani finally met his gaze. “Woohyun,” she spoke his name softly. “Did Maeri and him…”

“Yea,” he interrupted her again. Hani’s jaw dropped. “I mean, they kissed,” he tried to clear away any atrocious image flitting across her mind. But to be honest, her kissing another man was atrocious enough. “But for Maeri…” he tried to tell Hani that, but he lost his voice again. He sniffed loudly. “Aish.” And he threw his head back, forcing his tears to flow back into the ducts. It wasn’t going to work. He closed his eyes and felt a few tears fall down his cheek. _Maeri wasn’t thinking of me. She doesn’t love me. She doesn’t even care._

“That’s bad,” Hani filled in his blank. “That’s really bad. I never thought this would happen.”

Woohyun sniffed and looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, with his head still back. “But you knew that they liked each other?” he challenged her.

“Yea, but...It’s Maeri. She’s not...the type to do that,” Hani struggled to explain. She shook her head and muttered in disbelief, “I can’t believe it.”

Woohyun sputtered into a bitter laugh. “Yea, well, me either,” he spat back. Woohyun’s head fell back down and his eyes fixed on Hani’s. “Do you know how much shit we’ve been through? She’s always been there for me, and now she goes and does this?!” he ranted to her. He kicked his foot out in frustration. “What is this bullshit? What is my life?”

“I wish I knew what to say. I’m still so shocked,” Hani floundered at offering him any condolence. “This isn’t like Maeri, and I thought Sunggyu would get over it or try to like…” Hani stopped herself, tucking her lips into her mouth. Woohyun turned towards her, hooking his arm the back of the bench. He was about to ask her to continue, but then Hani gave him a smile. “This sucks. This _really_ sucks,” she said.

Woohyun sighed. “It does,” he agreed. “And if I can’t trust her, I can’t trust anyone,” he concluded. Woohyun brought his arm back over and crossed them over his chest. “I’m going to be alone forever.”

“Woohyun, don’t say that,” Hani reprimanded him. “You can still trust people.”

Woohyun pouted. “No, I can’t. I hate everyone,” he retorted, narrowing his eyes, glaring at nothing in particular, just at the whole world. He hated it all.

“Okay.” Hani gave up and got up from the bench. Woohyun scoffed. Figures that she would leave too. She was probably going to someone else. _Just like her_. “You need to concentrate on something that isn’t you,” Hani added.

“Huh?” That only made him angrier. He turned to her, frowning deeply, but was met with a leash in his face.

“Here,” Hani said as she put the leash around Woohyun’s wrist. With a proud smile, she pulled back and waved goodbye to him. “I’ll come back for Koko later,” she told Woohyun as she walked down the path.

“Noona! When’s later?” Woohyun shouted after her.

Hani hollered back at him, with two hand cupped at her mouth, “Just take another lap, and I’ll meet you back here!”

Woohyun wanted to decline the offer, but Hani broke into a run and disappeared around the turn. “She’s gone. Now what?” Woohyun muttered. As if he could understand, Koko whined. Woohyun glared down at him. “What are you looking at?” he sneered. Koko then barked loudly, startling Woohyun. “Aish,” Woohyun cursed. When he calmed down again, he let out a deep breath. “I guess things could be worse. At least, I’m not fixed like you.” Koko didn’t seem to like that and pulled at the leash again, dragging Woohyun off of the bench. He barely managed to get onto his feet and Koko had Woohyun walking briskly down the path.

“Wo-woah! Where are you going?”

* * *

Even though Woohyun had thought walking wasn’t solving any of his problems, this particular lap did. It was good to have company as he walked. And Koko was the ideal thing to talk to. He always listened to Woohyun and never interrupted. Humans always felt obligated to respond, to offer comfort or advice. Koko just felt obligated to keep walking. And occasionally the dog would look up at Woohyun with his brown eyes, which just melted his icy heart. “Do I have to take you back?” Woohyun ended up asking the dog. “You like me more than Hani, don’t you? I’m a nice guy. Any dog would be happy to be with me. Forget love. All the love I need is a love from a dog. Isn’t that right?” Koko barked in what Woohyun took as agreement.

Other than maybe getting a dog in a near future, Woohyun came to some other conclusions. Besides the whole cheating thing, what else made Woohyun incredibly angry was when Maeri claimed that he didn’t love her. Woohyun did. He did love her more than he realized, and romantically too. Woohyun had a habit of having an unguarded heart, which let others in easily. Maeri was already in there, deeply. Before he had only liked her, and he liked how consistent and faithful she was, how well they got along. Then he proposed and they played at being a couple. And the more that they played, the deeper and deeper she ventured into his heart. He liked them as a couple, and he was starting to really love her. And then it fell to pieces.

Another conclusion that he came to was how toxic his relationship with Maeri was. There was a reason why all of their previous relationships had failed. They wouldn't let anyone else come between them. Even Dongwoo seemed disgruntled at times with them because of that. They spoke like they had a secret language. They played games that only each other knew, laughed at jokes that no one else got. They acted as one unit, one person, and that wasn’t good. It was getting unhealthier as they got older. They’ve been too dependent on each other for too long, refusing to rely on anyone else or rely on their own strength alone. And so it was high time that they learned how to live without.

“Men in their 30s don’t cling onto their Teddy Bears, right, Koko? So I need to give away mine.”

“Ah! You’re back!” Hani exclaimed. Woohyun perked up at the sound of her voice, and so did Koko. The dog ran over to her, dragging Woohyun behind him. Hani must’ve run while he was gone. She was sitting on the bench, waiting for them, with a thin layer of sweat coating her faces and fly-aways plastered to her skin.

“Eung, thank you for this,” Woohyun said as he handed back the leash. “It did help.”

“I’m glad,” Hani responded, looking somewhat relieved. “I was afraid that Koko would drive you nuts like he does with me.”

“Eh, of course not,” Woohyun denied. “He’s a good dog,” he praised, patting Koko’s head one last time. “I’m going to miss him.”

“If you want, you can walk him again,” Hani offered. “I normally try to walk him around this time. After dinner.”

“Really?”

“Yea, you’d be doing me a favor actually,” Hani said as she crouched down next to Koko. She played with his cheeks. “I love you, but you’re a crazy dog. A crazy dog!” she spoke in a baby voice and was interrupted when Koko licked her nose. Hani immediately stood up, wincing and wiping her mouth. “It would be a _big_ favor. Trust me.”

Woohyun smiled down at the dog. “Yea, I’ll think about it.” He then looked up at Hani. “So I guess I’ll see you around, Noona. Good night!” he wished her as he walked away, waving.

“Good night, Woohyun!” she yelled back and turned to go home herself.

 _She didn’t call me ‘Woohyun-ssi’ again. She must feel really bad for me,_ he concluded as he walked back to Hoya’s apartment. _She’s pretending to be my friend again. But can I trust her? Can I trust anyone?_

* * *

 

If Woohyun could trust anyone, those people were waiting back at the apartment. When he opened up the door, Woohyun saw a familiar duffle bag on the floor, his duffle bag. Hoya had gotten his stuff from the apartment. Or he assumed in was Hoya.

“You’re back!”

“Hm?” Woohyun looked up from his bag and saw Dongwoo standing there with his arms wide open and Woohyun’s cell phone in his hand. “Dongwoo?” Woohyun felt a smile creeping onto his face.

“Come here, buddy,” Dongwoo encouraged him. It didn’t take much more than that for Woohyun to leap into his arms and accept the hug.

“I should’ve just married you,” Woohyun’s voice was muffled by Dongwoo’s shoulder.

“I know. I know. We all make mistakes,” Dongwoo joked as he patted his friend’s back.

That joke hit a little too close to home. Woohyun pulled away, out of the hug. “Thanks for getting my stuff,” he said.

“It’s no problem,” Dongwoo replied. “I’m just sorry that it took so long. I had to wait for something.”

Woohyun narrowed his eyes on the other. “Wait for what?”

Dongwoo averted his gaze and his mouth fell open. “Uuuh…”

“Yah!” A shout came from a few feet away, where Hoya was (apparently this whole time). “Are you just going to ignore me? I even bought a new case of beer for you in the fridge.”

“Really?”

“Yea,” Dongwoo answered for him. “Hey, did you eat any dinner?”

“Ah, no I didn’t,” Woohyun replied sheepishly. “But it’s okay. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does!” Dongwoo insisted. He slung his arm around Woohyun, not taking ‘no‘ for an answer and dragging him into the kitchen. “Let’s get you something to eat.”

“And drink,” Hoya added as he walked ahead of them and opened up the fridge.

“Thanks guys,” Woohyun said as he sat down. “For everything.” _For just being here_.

Dongwoo grinned and responded, “That’s what friends do.”

Dongwoo had a point. This was what friends do. Friends stuck with each other through thick and thin. Friends would always be there for you. They were people that you could trust. What friends don’t do were lie, steal, and cheat. _They did all three. They aren’t friends of mine…not anymore. Not ever again._


	26. Thirty-one (Maeri)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, I said that I ended up changing some things because of the comments. However, one of those changes wasn't Sunggyu and Maeri. From the onset, I didn't want the two leads (Maeri and Woohyun) to end up together. As strange as it may sound, it's true. I was inspired to write this fic after Reply 1997, and I wanted to play around with the trope of two childhood friends "getting together." Also I was thinking about arranged marriages and how if Maeri and Woohyun were born in a different time, they probably would've had one. But times and values are different, so their relationship is different. Basically, I had a lot of thoughts regarding the fic (which is why it has taken so long to write). BUT one of them wasn't how Woohyun had fallen for Maeri a bit. That was the thing I changed. I originally had both Maeri and Woohyun moving on too quickly.
> 
> Speaking of which, that's why Woohyun and Maeri are bit...angsty and conflicted in this chapter. At the end of this chapter, it's like a week since they've broken up, so please understand. Also next chapter will be WAY more Woohyun focused, I promise. 
> 
> I'm sorry for not being completely honest about the pairings since the beginning. I wanted to leave some room for intrigue(?), but I know that some of you (if not all) aren't too happy with me. I'm really really sorry for misleading you. I really do appreciate you all still reading and commenting after all of this time (years and years). I DO love you!
> 
> Sorry for going on for too long! I hope you enjoy the update!

 “You were right.”

Woohyun was sitting at Hoya’s table with him and Dongwoo. For the first time that day, Woohyun had an actual meal, and now with a full belly, he was too tired to move from it. Also his legs were throbbing from all of the walking he did just an hour prior. Dongwoo and Hoya, however, did not mind. They were just happy to see Woohyun acting remotely like a human again and less like a typewriter, writing endlessly through the night. But now, after having a few drinks, Woohyun became even more human-like and began babbling away his inner thoughts. He sighed again and repeated, “You were right. Asking her to marry me was the dumbest thing that I’ve ever done.”

“I said it could’ve been the smartest thing too,” Dongwoo reminded him with a nervous chuckle, wary of where this was going.

Woohyun scoffed. “Dongwoo, look at me.” _Nothing about the situation I’m in now makes that seem like a smart decision._

“Yea, look at him,” Hoya interjected. Woohyun shot a glare at him, but it only glanced off his friend. Hoya shrugged. “I’m just trying to help prove your point.”

“That was before she said ‘yes’ though,” Dongwoo was still trying to wriggle his way out of this conversation. “I thought she might reject you, and things would become awkward between the two of you.”

But Woohyun followed up with, “But she said ‘yes.’” That comment that Dongwoo had made months back was niggling Woohyun all day. He knew that Dongwoo had reason back then. Now when things were all over, Dongwoo was refusing to say it. It was annoying Woohyun. He just wanted to know it, to know why, why this all had to happen and happen to him.

“I know,” Dongwoo muttered lowly. “But…ah, never mind,” he backed out almost as soon as he tried to dive into the thick of it.

“What?” Woohyun goaded him, irritated. “Spit it out.”

“There was another reason,” finally Dongwoo had admitted it.

“What was it?” Woohyun asked.

“Yea, what?” Hoya interjected, curious as well. However, both Woohyun and Dongwoo ignored him and continued on having a side conversation.

“You guys…played very well together,” Dongwoo started. “You made everything into a game. Even, um, your engagement. Maybe?” he suggested, albeit unconfidently. “That’s what else I thought might happen, that you guys would just play ‘house’ together, but not…take it seriously.”

“We took it seriously,” Woohyun argued.

Dongwoo’s nervousness crumbled, and he laughed. “What about the time you guys showed up at my place?” he reminded his friend. “You were wearing Maeri’s shirt, and she had no pants on.”

Hoya had been drinking at the time, and the beer dribbled out of his mouth, wide-open in shock. He then regained his senses, wiped his mouth, and asked, “What?”

Once again, Woohyun disregarded Hoya and focused on Dongwoo. “That was one time!” he combatted. “Once,” he stated, putting up one finger for emphasis. “The rest of the time, we were serious!”

And in his mind, they were. Woohyun seriously was going to marry Maeri, and at the beginning, she seemed serious too. Sure, they ‘played,’ but that’s what they typically did to make mundane things fun. Like the game of dares first started from boredom, and they resurrected it to raise Woohyun’s spirits. There was nothing wrong with that. Also playing games was how they solved disputes, like having a staring contest to choose the flavor of the wedding cake. But…maybe playing rock, paper, scissors to remove clothes was a bit much. Maybe so was taking turns for who was the ‘big spoon.’ Also choosing petnames like they were choosing roles (and when was the last time they called each other those names sincerely? Did they ever?).

Maybe Dongwoo had a point. Woohyun was having too much ‘fun’ that he ignored a lot of obvious things like that. _Did I want to play that much?_

“Wait,” Hoya attempted to break into the conversation again. “Some one tell me what happened. Why was he wearing her shirt?”

“It was a game of dares,” Woohyun answered coldly. “We only did it once.”

“While you were engaged,” Dongwoo amended.

Woohyun sighed with a heavy heart. “Yea, only once while we were engaged _.” All we really did was play._

“I’m kinda sad that I missed it,” Hoya remarked.

“Too bad,” Woohyun snapped, now facing Hoya. Hoya was taken aback. “I’m not playing anymore,” he declared. He slunk down into his chair with his arms crossed tightly across his chest. “She cheated, so I quit. I won’t play with her again.”

“Really?” Dongwoo asked, his eyes wide. He wasn’t yet aware of Woohyun’s resolve to never speak to her again.

“Yea, I don’t like cheaters,” Woohyun answered coldly. He then stood up from the table. “I’m going to bed,” he announced, with a yawn and while rubbing his eyes. _I haven’t slept in a long time._

“Oh good night,” the other two muttered to him as they watched him leave. Woohyun responded only with a vague grunt. He wished it would be a good night’s sleep. Hopefully he had tired himself out during the day that he’d just pass out once he laid on the sofa. But passing out would just have to wait a few minutes longer. In addition to sleep, Woohyun couldn’t remember the last time he washed up. Along with the grime, Woohyun hoped to wash some other things off of him, like the water rolling off his back.

After he came out of the bathroom, he expected to be alone, but Dongwoo was waiting for him on the couch. _Why hasn’t he left yet?_ Woohyun didn’t ask. He didn’t say anything. He just walked up to the couch, throwing some of his toiletries into his open duffle bag.

But Dongwoo wasn’t afraid to start conversation with a reticent friend. He’d been friends and roommates with Woohyun for years; he knew how to deal with all of Woohyun moods easily. “Nam-goon, I was thinking,” he started. “How long are you going to stay here?”

Woohyun looked up at him suspiciously. “Did Hoya tell you to ask me?” he asked.

“No, no, no,” Dongwoo denied. “ _I_ told me to ask you.”

“I don’t know when I’m leaving,” Woohyun grumbled out a reply as he sat down next to the other. “Why?”

“Go home,” Dongwoo responded bluntly. He put a hand on the other’s knee. “Go home and be with your family. Nothing is more healing than that.”

Woohyun hung his head and groaned. _My family is her family, but_ … Woohyun had to admit that it did sound nice. “I haven’t seen them in awhile,” he confessed. _I haven’t talked to them either. I just sent them the letter. They are probably wondering what’s going on_. It was funny. His parents had meddled so much in his affairs, until now. Now when Woohyun was in dire straits, they pulled back. _They probably want us to work it out on our own. But I don’t want to. I want to go home. But what if she goes too?_

“I’ll think about it,” that was as much of a conclusion as Woohyun would reach that night.

“Okay,” and that meager conclusion was good enough for Dongwoo. He patted the other on the back and got up from the couch. “Good night. I’m leaving,” he announced while waving.

“Night,” Woohyun said back and then watched the other leave. Once alone, he flopped down on the couch, waiting for sleep to overcome him, which it soon did, but not without one final thought.

 _Maybe it is time to go home_.

* * *

The next morning was just as hard as the one before. Maeri had woken up late again, but this time, only an hour later than usual. She still went to work, regardless of how sick she was still feeling. They were going to hold an auction soon. She couldn’t afford to miss it. There was too much work to be done.

As she was getting ready, Maeri noted how empty the apartment was starting to feel without some of Woohyun’s things. Soon after Sunggyu left, Dongwoo came to collect some of Woohyun’s things. Although she was just barely awake, she helped him go through the apartment and added a few things that were left out on the list, like his toothbrush. And while she was tossing things into the duffle bag, Maeri, for a second, thought about slipping a letter of her own inside. But she didn’t know what to write, or what Woohyun wanted to hear from her. _Nothing, he wants nothing to do with me anymore_ , she thought as she recalled the last line in the letter. She looked down at the open bag. _He probably doesn’t even want me to do this_. She scrunched her face. _Screw it_ , she thought as she threw more things into his bag.

When the bag was sufficiently full, Dongwoo left with a few words and Maeri was left to sleep, finally giving into what she’d been fighting off. Maybe that was why she was late to wake up this morning. In any case, she still made it to work and was busy there all day, preparing for the auction. She was thankful that they were so busy. There were few opportunities for her and her coworkers to talk about anything outside of work. Although she had noticed Sungjong looking at her strangely time and time again, Maeri ignored him and focused on her work. _After the auction. I will tell them after the auction_ , she concluded. _There’s no need for them to know now._

And like that, she passed the day, working busily. She didn’t even notice that it was well past quitting-time, until she looked up from her computer screen and saw that she was the only one left in the office. The dark and dim office now made her incredibly aware of her loneliness. That feeling dragged her stomach lower and lower and also dragged her feet, wanting to escape from it all. Maeri quickly packed up and left after locking up. When she pulled her key out of the lock, Maeri looked up at the sky while stuffing the key back into her pocket. _What now?_

At that moment, her phone rang. It was Hani. Maeri stared at her unnie’s name on the screen for a few seconds. Despite how close they claimed to be, Maeri hadn’t told her about the break-up yet or about what she had done. I _haven’t even told my parents yet either. What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I bring myself to tell them?_

_They don’t need to know right this moment, do they?_

Maeri took in a deep breath and answered the call, “Oh, Unnie. How are you?”

“Maeri,” Hani spoke with a voice full of pity. “You sound sick.”

“Eung,” Maeri grunted and sniffed loudly while wiping her nose. “I caught something, but it’s getting better.”

“Good,” Hani responded, but she sounded hesitant, drawing out the word for a beat too long. Obviously things weren’t good, not for Hani.

“Unnie, what is it? What’s up?” Maeri pressed her.

Hani let out a deep breath before finally saying, “I heard. From Woohyun.”

“You talked to Woohyun?” Maeri sputtered. She had been walking to the bus stop as she was talking, but what Hani had just said made her stop in her tracks. “How is he?”

“Fine, given the circumstances,” Hani wasn’t very giving. Maeri’s eyes dropped to her feet, and she nodded. Although it wasn’t much, it was as much information about him as she could hope for.

“Okay,” Maeri muttered in a low voice, and she began walking over to the stop again, dragging her feet against the pavement.

“But…how are you?” Hani stammered through the question, seeming to want to know and the same time, not, which left Maeri wondering how much Woohyun had told Hani.

So Maeri wasn’t willing to divulge any more than he had, so she gave the same veiled answer as Hani did moments earlier. “Fine, given the circumstances.” She sniffed again. “Congested.”

“Okay,” Hani repeated Maeri’s response too and sounded just as disappointed. “I just…wanted to know how you were,” she revealed. “And…” Hani didn’t finish. Something was stopping her, which made Maeri realize that Woohyun _had_ told Hani everything. Hani didn’t know how to act around her anymore. She was uncomfortable, with Maeri. _I used to think of her as a sister. Did I lose that? Just because this?_

And those thoughts lead Maeri to snap. “And what?” she asked more harshly than she intended.

“And…we should get lunch soon. Then we can talk about it some more,” Hani said.

Maeri closed her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. _I didn’t lose her. I need to stop acting crazy_. She sighed. “That would be good. I’d really like that,” Maeri replied and then called for the other’s attention, “Unnie.”

“Hm?”

“I’m sorry,” Maeri apologized with a tenuous smile, although the other couldn’t see it

Hani laughed out of disbelief. “For what? I’m not sure that I’m the one you need to be apologizing to,” she reminded the other.

“Ah, no, I do,” Maeri refuted cautiously. _How do I say this?_ She ruffled her hair again. “I know how something like this can affect everyone, especially you.”

“Me? Why?” Hani still wasn’t following, or was refusing to because she kept trying to brush off the matter with a laugh.

“We were all friends and…” Maeri gulped before continuing, “…your mom.”

“That’s all in the past,” Hani’s voice was quick and cold as she spoke, like a blast of winter air. Maeri hung her head again and kicked the pavement. _I shouldn’t have said anything_. They never really talked about her mother, but Maeri was worried about reopening an old wound with her own cheating. Maeri also must’ve made a noise unbeknownst because Hani spoke again and her tone completely changed, now cheerful, “My mom, I mean. Not you.”

“Good, I was worried for a second,” Maeri replied, with just as much fake cheerfulness. Truth be told, she was still worried about Hani.

A worry which only grew when Hani cut the conversation right there: “Maeri, I’m going to dinner with my dad right now, but let’s get lunch soon, okay?”

“Okay. Bye!” Maeri still kept up the ruse but when she hung up the phone, she slumped onto the bench at the stop and began hitting the butt of her phone against her head. “Stupid. Stupid. Stupid,” she insulted herself. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I should’ve just said ‘yes, let’s have lunch’ and leave it at that,” she kept talking to herself. Maeri then threw her head back, puffing out her cheeks, frustrated. _I’m ruining everything, pushing away everyone who’s dear to me._ She let her head fall back down, just in time to see the bus pull away from the stop.

“ACK!” she yelped, quickly gathering her things and chasing after the bus. “Wait! Stop!”

_I’m doing everything wrong._

* * *

Everything was wrong. First, Sunggyu came back late from work to an empty apartment. No Dongwoo could be seen or heard, and Little Woohyun was still sequestered in Dongwoo’s room. It was almost as if Sunggyu had been living alone, except there was one small trace of Dongwoo left behind. It was a travel mug with a note next to it, telling Sunggyu to give it to Maeri. Curious, Sunggyu picked up the mug, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. His face puckered as soon as the liquid touched his tongue. It was tea, incredibly bitter herbal tea. “Aish,” he murmured as he tried to smack the taste away. He placed the mug back onto the counter, glaring at it _. I’d rather have you, Dongwoo, than this gesture_. Sunggyu sighed as walked over the couch and spilled himself onto his, face squished against the cushion.

Everything was wrong, and it wasn’t just because of Dongwoo or even the whole ordeal with Woohyun. Things were wrong ever since a year ago when his parents both passed away. _Has it really been almost a year already?_ Dates flew through his mind as he calculated. His father’s anniversary was next week. And it was on that day a year ago when Sunggyu’s world dimmed, and it was bathed in complete darkness when his mother left soon after. He hadn’t been the same since then. He was aware of it. He’d become colder and more reserved, awkward around people. Even with Dongwoo, one of his oldest friends, the conversation would just suddenly die and things would get sullen.

But there was an exception to this, a light in his black world, Yoo Maeri. Around her, he felt his stone-face crack into a smile. He felt warm, comforted. And he didn’t want to lose that, which led him to act out of panic when she was slipping away from him. He kissed her, lightly on the forehead. Sunggyu rolled over and stared at the scene of the crime, his bedroom, that spot near the wall, where she kissed him back. For that moment, ‘everything’ had turned from wrong to glorious, but only for a short burst of time. It ended when Dongwoo came back and she cursed at his face. Then everything was pure shit.

Like Maeri, Woohyun had been an exception in his life. He never formed a friendship that quickly (excluding Maeri). Sunggyu also never talked to anybody so bluntly about his father and his mother until Woohyun. Sunggyu had exchanged that honest friendship for something else, more dear (and more selfish). Woohyun was a good friend, but Maeri (Sunggyu had a feeling) could be the best friend that he ever had. It was a Pyrrhic victory. Like Maeri, Sunggyu was ashamed.

_Everything is wrong. I should’ve just stayed home, with my sister._

Sunggyu rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. As he closed his eyes, he tried to cover the images of his parents and their last few moments with ones that would give him comfort and ease his heart. He hated how often he imagined this, but he would often daydream what would’ve happened to them in an alternate universe in which Woohyun hadn’t proposed, Maeri hadn’t accepted, or the both of them treated the proposal as a joke and moved on:

> Woohyun didn’t know this, but Dongwoo had already offered Sunggyu to stay in their apartment until he could find another. The appointment Sunggyu had picked up at the high school was last minute as was his move to the town. And because Dongwoo probably wouldn’t tell Woohyun about their new ‘roommate,’ Sunggyu and Woohyun would still have friction with each other. But they would become friends eventually, Sunggyu was sure of that. Sunggyu was also sure that eventually he would’ve met Maeri, maybe even earlier than they originally did. There were multiple ways that they could’ve met, like if she stopped by the apartment to pick up Woohyun for dinner or to drop something off that their mothers gave her for him. Then Sunggyu would answer the door. They’d both be surprised at this strange twist of fate. Woohyun would walk up, asking, “Do you guys know each other?” Then Maeri would tell him about how she appraised Sunggyu’s house just days earlier. When Maeri stepped inside, they would catch up, talking about everything and anything since they last time they met. Frustrated and tired of being ignored, Woohyun would invite Sunggyu to dinner with them so that they could continue the conversation there. At dinner, the three of them would have a good time. The conversation would be nice, and Sunggyu would smile and laugh more than he had in a long while. Also Woohyun might suggest that Maeri should set Sunggyu up with one of her friends, claiming that he was a catch and that it would cheer him up. “I already have my eye on someone,” Sunggyu would respond the same in this fantasy as he did in this reality. Except in the fantasy, he’d do better. He’d do it right. After dinner, Sunggyu would get Maeri’s number. They were friends now. There was nothing wrong with that, nor would there be anything wrong with him stopping by the auction house to check on his things. There he would learn that Maeri bought his table, and he’d be touched by the fact she cared about his (lame) story, although she would insist over and over again that it was a beautiful piece of wood (Maeri really needed to stop saying that).
> 
> They’d continue to get dinner together, with or without Woohyun. One time, with Woohyun absent, Maeri would ask, unable to restrain her curiosity anymore, “So tell me about her, the girl you have your eye on. Who is she?”
> 
> “You.”
> 
> Maeri would smile and reply, “I was hoping it’d be.” And then they would be together, the right way and with Woohyun’s approval. He’d ask them what took so long. And at this moment, almost a year later, Sunggyu would probably be contemplating proposing to her rather than whether or not they should actually pursue this.

Sunggyu opened his eyes again, coming back to reality. Sadly this chain of events was only a fantasy, _his_ fantasy. He didn’t know, for sure, what Maeri herself was thinking at this moment, what she’d fantasize about. Sunggyu hoped that she wanted the same as him, but a part of him was afraid that she’d go back to Woohyun and beg for his forgiveness, another part terrified that Woohyun would give it. _Should I go over and ask her directly? Are we dating? What is it that you want?_ “No, no, no,” he spoke out loud. He was afraid of what her answer would be.

While he was lost in his doubts, there was a timid knock at the door. Sunggyu almost thought he was hearing things, but then there was another round of knocking, softer this time. Sunggyu still heard it, since he’d been listening for it, and he rolled off the couch and walked over to the door. After peering through the spyhole, he saw that it was Maeri, waiting nervously and fiddling with a book in her hands. Sunggyu wasted no time in opening the door.

When she looked up at him, Maeri lit up and relaxed. “Sunggyu,” she spoke with a growing smile. “You’re here.”

“Maeri, why are you here?” Sunggyu asked, and then he quickly remembered his manners and stepped aside. “Come in. Come in.” He ushered her into the apartment. Maeri took a step inside but lingered in the entryway, taking off neither her shoes nor her coat. She just stood a step or two in front of the closed door.

“Woohyun left this book. It looks like he was reading it,” she said, showing off the book and flicking at the bookmark inside of it.

Sunggyu put his hands in his pockets and cocked an eyebrow. “Did you come all of this way just to give it to Dongwoo?” he challenged.

“No,” Maeri answered, still smiling. She then finally took another step inside, a step towards Sunggyu, and hugged him, threading her arms through his. “I wanted to give this to you too.”

Sunggyu smiled and pulled his hands out from his pockets. He then placed them on her shoulders, peeling Maeri slightly away from him. Once their eyes met, he fixed a frown on his face. “I don’t want it,” he said. “I want to exchange it for something else.”

“What?” Maeri asked with a tilt of her head. With just a slight pout of his lips, Maeri got the hint. “Ah!” she exclaimed and then got up on the tips of her toes, giving him a quick peck.

“Tell me the truth. You came here to see me,” his words were much stronger than his voice was. His doubts from moments before were darting through his mind again.

But then she dashed them away: “I did. I felt like I needed an excuse to come, and so...”

“You don’t need one. You’re welcome here,” Sunggyu cut her off and hoped that he’d alleviate her worries too. He pulled at the collar of the coat that she was still wearing. “You can come over at any time.” _And stay_.

But Maeri wasn’t looking up at him. Her eyes were darting all over the apartment. She stood on her toes again, but this time to look around Sunggyu’s shoulders. “I might be welcomed here, but…” her voice dropped as she concentrated on her search for…

“Dongwoo,” Sunggyu continued for her.

“Yea.” Her eyes returned back onto his and she nodded. “It could get awkward,” she added.

“I see,” Sunggyu muttered. He then pulled away from Maeri, moving his hand from her collar down to her hand and held it. Leading her by the hand, the two of them walked over to the counter (finally leaving the entryway). With his other hand, he picked up the travel mug. “He made you this, by the way,” he told her and handed the mug over. “Maybe it won’t be _so_ awkward.”

Maeri used both of her hands to receive the tea, after putting the book onto the counter and letting go of Sunggyu’s hand. “He’s so nice. Too nice,” she mumbled as she turned the mug in her hands. With a heavy sigh, she put the tea back onto the counter. Sunggyu stared at her curiously. _Is she not going to take it?_ Maeri then looked up at him. “What is it?”

“Bitter tea. Very bitter,” Sunggyu answered, smacking his lips at the memory of the taste.

“You tasted it?” Maeri asked with a frown. “But it’s for me.”

“Yes,” Sunggyu responded timidly with a nod. Maeri smiled, and he did too. “I was hungry,” he excused himself.

“Okay. It’s okay. I don’t mind,” Maeri replied. But then the smile fled from face, and she became grim. “There’s another reason why I’m here,” she confessed.

“What is it?” he asked, growing uneasy because she was so serious. _This is it. She’s going to tell me_ …his mind came up with thousands of horrifying things she could tell him.

“I needed to get out of that apartment.” He didn’t think that she’d say that. “Sunggyu, I think I need to go home.”

“Okay,” Sunggyu agreed with her, half-heartedly. It would be easier if she stayed at her apartment, but if she went home, which was not only further away, there would be her parents and then Woohyun’s parents. _I can’t just go to her house. I’ll be alone again._ “Go home,” he encouraged her, with more strength. “But can we eat dinner first?” While she was still nearby, he wasn’t about to eat alone.

“Of course,” Maeri readily agreed. “You hungry?”

“Starving,” he answered honestly. “Aren’t you?” It was late. How could she not be?

“I guess I could eat,” Maeri replied with small nod. She then reached for his hand. “Let’s go,” she said softly, while squeezing his hand.

“What’s the book about anyway?” Sunggyu asked as he followed her back to the entryway.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, sheepishly. “I just grabbed a random book from the nightstand.”

“You wanted to see me that badly?” Sunggyu tried to tease her, as he slipped into his shoes.

But she answered it truthfully, “Eung.”

Sunggyu stood up straight, staring at her all the way, his lips picking up. “You’re too honest,” he retorted.

“I can't lie very well,” Maeri confessed.

“Lie,” Sunggyu challenged her. “Try it right now.”

Maeri squared up to him, furrowing her brow, and accepted his challenge: “You’re the handsomest man on the planet.”

Sunggyu scoffed. “You’re right. You can’t lie. You can only tell the truth,” he retorted and he opened up the door, gesturing for her to go through.

“Told you,” she said as she walked past him.

Sunggyu stepped into the hallway and began to close the door, while he told her, “I’m glad you came.”

“Me too.”

* * *

“I need to move back home,” Maeri repeated for about the hundredth time that day, as if she were trying to remind herself. She wanted to do this. She had to do this.

“Okay, but why am I here?” Sunggyu asked. Over dinner last night, Maeri asked him to help her move, and he agreed, although he was nervous about what it entailed (he was scared of the rest of the Yoos and all of the Nams right now). But she insisted that all he would need to do was to drop her off at her house. However, now that didn’t seem to be the case. They were both sitting in the car, parked right outside of her home, and Maeri had yet to move anything besides her lips. She had resolved on moving back home, but she still needed a push to help her go through with it.

“I’m still on cold medication. I shouldn’t be operating heavy machinery. The car…is heavy,” she answered his question while spreading her arms across the dashboard until her cheek laid smooshed against it. She looked over at Sunggyu and sniffed loudly, pitifully.

He laughed. “Are you sure it’s only cold medicine that you’re on? Nothing else? You didn’t drink anything?” he teased her, while patting her head.

Maeri raised her head. “No, I’m still nauseous,” she mumbled, her hand covering her stomach. Sunggyu studied her for few moments _. I wasn’t this nauseous when I was sick. She doesn’t seem to be recovering either_ , he concluded. Her skin was still sallow. Her cheeks were getting slimmer. They felt different underneath his fingers. Maeri then looked up from her stomach to him. “Also I need moral support, in case they turn me away,” she finally admitted.

Sunggyu smirked and dropped his hand. _I had a feeling that I wasn’t just a driver_. “They won’t,” he tried to assuage her fears.

But it didn’t work. She shook her head and argued, “No, they would. They seriously would. They like Woohyun more than me. They told me that before. Hell, Jonghyun tells me that every time I see him.”

“I’m sure they were just joking,” he tried again, and this time it seemed to work. She relaxed a little.

“Just in case they weren’t, stick around, okay?” she begged of him, laying her hand over his, which had been on the gear shift.

He flipped that hand over and threaded his fingers through hers. “Okay,” he promised.

“At least I can count on something,” she said. Sunggyu felt his face grow warm and a smile spread across his face. He wanted to say, ‘yes, you can always count on me,’ but then Maeri finished her statement: “My family likes me more than you.”

Sunggyu frowned. “That’s only because they don’t know me,” he argued.

The cheeky smile flew from her face and she pouted. “They’d still like me more,” she insisted.

“Just go in,” he raised his voice. This was getting silly and she was only prolonging the argument to stall. He knew it and she did too.

“Okay, I’ll go,” she gave in and withdrew her hand. “Bye,” she said and then leaned in to give him a peck goodbye. But when she pulled away she still showed no signs of leaving. Instead she furrowed her brows and asked, “But where will you go?”

“There’s a coffee shop down the street. I’ll work there,” he quickly made plans. Sunggyu then tried to push her again. “Good luck with your parents,” he wished her and then kissed her goodbye too.

“Thanks. Be safe,” Maeri responded and returned his kiss with another.

“Safe from what?” Sunggyu asked with a slight chuckle.

“I don’t know. Hot coffee?” Maeri suggested with a shrug of her shoulders. “You don’t want to burn yourself.”

“No, I wouldn’t. I’ll be safe,” he promised and then tried to kiss her goodbye again. “Go.”

But when he pulled away, Maeri still didn’t make a move for the door. Instead she pouted and put one finger up in the air. “Just one more,” she requested. “For good luck.”

Stalling again. But Sunggyu had to admit that this tactic was better than the last one. He was more willing to indulge her, and he would have, for much longer, if they weren’t outside of her parents’ house. “If I don’t, will you die?” he brought up what she said a few days ago. He liked it a bit too much. _She can’t live without me_. But Maeri didn’t seem to like being reminded of it. Her lips curled up into snarl, and she huffed. “Okay, okay. One more. Give me one more kiss or _I’ll_ die,” he amended, and it brought the smile back to her face. And she readily and gladly gave into his request, leaning forward, about to give him more than just a simple peck. Slowly, she inched closer, and then their lips brushed against each other…

“Yoo Maeri!” a shout was accompanied by several, thumping knocks against the window. “That _sure_ doesn’t look like your fiancè.”

“OMAGOSH! MOM!” Maeri screeched. Both her and Sunggyu immediately looked outside the passenger window, where sure enough, her mother was standing, clicking her tongue at them and shaking her head.

“This must be the succubus,” this time a voice came from behind Sunggyu, right outside of the driver’s side window. Sunggyu slowly turned his head back and saw who he could only assume was Maeri’s face. The old man smiled cheekily. “Nice to see you again, Kim Sunggyu.”

“Hello, sir,” Sunggyu greeted him as politely as he could (given the circumstances), while he rolled down the window. “Did you get a letter by chance?” he asked. Instead of answering with words, the old man took a thick envelope from his coat pocket. The address was written in Woohyun’s handwriting. Sunggyu smiled sheepishly. “Ah. So you did.”

He then heard a door open. He whipped his head back to Maeri and witnessed her mother opening up the door and pulling her daughter out by her ear. “Come on inside, unfaithful daughter of mine,” she commanded Maeri.

“This kid should come in too,” her father said and Sunggyu could feel his finger pointing at him before he could see it. He turned back to the old man and gulped. There was no escape. Sunggyu followed his suggestion and opened up the door, stepping out of the car. He wordlessly walked by her father’s side and behind Maeri, who was moaning in pain with her mother still dragging her by the ear.

“Maeri, next time you want to keep a relationship a secret from us, don’t kiss in the driveway, okay?” her mother recommended.

“I got it. I got it,” Maeri muttered. And in spite of her mother’s iron grip on her ear, she craned her head back to make sure Sunggyu was still there. Once their gazes met, she mouthed ‘I’m sorry.’ Sunggyu tried to dismiss it with a gesture to make her feel better, but truthfully, he was sorry too. He was sorry that his first meeting with her parents had to be like this. This wasn’t what how he wanted it to happen at all. Everything was still wrong.

* * *

Once they were inside the house, Maeri’s father whisked Sunggyu away into the living room for a game of baduk, which luckily Sunggyu had learned how to play from his grandfather. Maeri wished him luck, knowing full well that her father, a member of the town’s baduk club, was going to whip his butt royally. Humiliating Sunggyu like that was her father’s retaliation for everything that happened, and she was sure there would be some snide remarks made ‘in the spirit of competition.’ She only hoped that Sunggyu would be able to keep a cool head.

Those were the plans that her father had for Sunggyu, but Maeri had no idea what her mother had in store for herself. Her mom led her into the kitchen, away from the men, but did not speak one word to her. A lecture from her mother wasn’t what was in store for her. Maeri was led into the kitchen because someone else was there, waiting, with his head laying on the table, looking desolate. “Jonghyun?” Maeri called out to him.

Her little brother raised his head, showing his puffy, red eyes. Once he saw that Maeri was there, he roughly rubbed his face and grumbled, “Get out.”

“What’s wrong?” Maeri asked, directing the question not to Jonghyun but her mother. Her mother shrugged, refusing to give any information, and left the room.

“What’s wrong?” Jonghyun repeated, raising his voice. “What’s wrong is you ruined everything!”

Maeri walked up closer to him, but was careful to keep her distance. “I know,” she accepted the blame. “It’s all my fault. I’m sorry. I know you care a lot about…Woohyun,” she brought his name up with difficulty. “I didn’t want to hurt him. Or you.”

Jonghyun scoffed. “Bullshit,” he cursed. Maeri’s eyes widened in shock. Her little brother had never cursed like that before. “Doesn’t matter what you wanted. You still hurt the both of us.”

“True, but…” Maeri tried to argue, but then her bother cut her off.

“Hyung hates me now because of you!”

“What?!”

“Woohyun-hyung, wrote mom and dad a letter, and he even gave one to that old lady who owns the snack shop. But he didn’t give me one,” Jonghyun explained in a growling tone. “He hasn’t talked to me since…you screwed everything up!”

“Jonghyun,” Maeri muttered below her breath and walked closer to him, putting her and on his back. “I’m sure he doesn’t hate you.”

“He does!” Jonghyun snapped back, moving away from her. “You know how every Friday I hang out with hyung?” Maeri nodded. “I waited for him all afternoon but he never came. He never even sent a message. And when I tried to find him, that’s when I found out he told the old lady about everything, but he wouldn’t tell me. He won’t talk to me. He hates me.”

“That…that doesn’t sound like him,” Maeri spoke her thoughts out loud. “I’m sure there’s a reason.”

“There is. He hates me,” Jonghyun sneered and he got up from the table. “Thanks a lot,” he grumbled as he walked past her, intentionally knocking into her shoulder. He left the kitchen and Maeri heard him stomping up the stairs and them slamming his bedroom door.

When he left, Maeri sat down at the table, ruffling her hair in frustration. “Nam Woohyun,” she grumbled below her breath. She was okay with Woohyun cutting her out of his life, but Jonghyun committed no sin against him. Being her brother wasn’t a grievous crime! It wasn’t even a crime at all. But it wasn’t like Woohyun to ignore Jonghyun either. _Unless he hates me that much_. A hatred so strong that it trickled down to her family members. What did the letter to her parents say? Did it blame them for raising her like this? _Maybe I should ask my parents if I could read it_. Maeri rapt her fingers against the table as she thought it over. “Nam Woohyun, what are you doing?” She pulled out her phone from her pocket, tempted to call him, yell at him, for dragging her brother through all of this. _You always said that he was your little brother too._ She was going to do it. She pulled up his phone number and was about to hit the call button.

But then she heard steps thudding back down the stairs. From where she was sitting, Maeri could see a bit of the hallway and made out her little brother at the bottom of the stairs. He was slipping on his shoes in a hurry and putting on his coat. Jonghyun was about to go out the door, but then he changed his mind after touching the doorknob and darted into the kitchen. His eyes were fixed on the floor, refusing to look at her. “Hyung just messaged me. We’re going out now. He just got off from work,” he told her. After chewing on his lower lip a few times, he stammered out, “I’m sorry for blaming you, noona.”

Maeri smiled. “It’s okay. Go have fun,” she told him, but she had to yell the last bit because Jonghyun was already running back to the door. When he left again, Maeri looked back down to her phone. “I must be crazy,” she mumbled as she quickly got rid of Woohyun’s name across the screen. “What was I thinking? I should have more faith in him. I should know better.”

 _He only hates me_ , Maeri reminded herself as she got up from the table to go find her mother. She found the woman in the living room, watching Sunggyu flounder at baduk and laughing. _Ah, no he hates Sunggyu too_ , she tried to find comfort in that, but couldn’t. Her gaze drifted up to her mother and then over to her father. I didn’t ruin your friendship with the Nams. Did I?

“Is Jonghyun getting dinner with Woohyun?” her mother asked, breaking into her thoughts. There was a sudden clanking noise. Sunggyu had knocked over a couple stones off of the board and was now putting them back on, apologizing profusely. Her father was directing him where to put the stones (and was probably lying about where they were to give himself a few extra points).

Maeri smiled quickly, but her face fell when she turned to her mother. “I guess,” she replied vaguely.

“Looks like we have an extra spot at the table,” her mom concluded. “Sunggyu, why don’t you stay for dinner?”

Sunggyu spun towards her. “Uh, yes, if it’s not any trouble,” he accepted the offer.

“None at all, especially if Maeri pitches in,” her mom said, giving her daughter a pointed glance. “Come on,” she said to Maeri. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“We do,” Maeri agreed as she followed her mom back into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, for awhile, all that could be heard was the clinking of stones from the living room and her father’s rumbling laughter. But that was soon replaced with the sound of knives against the cutting board, as Maeri and her mother chopped up vegetables. Maeri was slow and methodical in her cutting, unused to the task. Then she heard her mother sigh and click her tongue.

“We came in here to talk. Isn’t there something you want to tell me?” her mom prodded her.

Maeri put down the knife. “What do you want me to tell you?” she returned her mother’s question with another. “I don’t know where to begin…and I’m sure that Woohyun told you everything anyway.”

“Yes, he did,” her mother spoke lowly and then she put down her knife as well and faced her daughter. “But I want to hear your side.”

“What did he tell you?” Maeri asked.

Her mother wasn’t giving and shrugged her shoulders. “This and that,” she answered and turned on the range. “Hand me the pot and get the rice ready.”

“Okay,” Maeri murmured and followed her commands.

“Thank you, dear,” her mother said as she accepted the pot from her daughter. She then began to put the ingredients into the put, and Maeri silently helped her, handing one item after another. “The way I see it…” the elder broke the silence. “…because you’re not saying anything, something about _that_ boy in the other room…”

“It wasn’t his fault,” Maeri interrupted her mother and finally started talking about the matter. “It wasn’t his fault. It was mine.” She let out a deep breath and leaned against the island. Her skin grew hot and she couldn’t bear looking up at her mom. The two of them had an honest relationship. Maeri told her mother everything, except when it came to matters of the heart. Her mother often joked that she’d get engaged before Maeri would even tell them that she was dating. But Maeri skirted around the issue as much as she could. After she saw her mother send a piercing glare towards the living room aimed at Sunggyu, she couldn’t hold back anymore. Maeri refused to have it seem like he’d seduced her. _It’s not like that at all._

“I don’t know when I started liking Sunggyu,” Maeri began, eyes still on her hands. “But when I realized it, I should’ve said something. I should’ve told Woohyun. But instead, I pretended like I didn’t like him. I tried to convince myself of that. I didn’t want to hurt Woohyun, and I really thought that us getting married would turn out for the best, because…because my feelings for Sunggyu were fleeting and Woohyun…has always been there me. And, well, they didn’t go away. Those feelings.” Maeri huffed, puffing out her cheeks, and she bounced her legs, agitated. This confession took a lot out of her, and it was embarrassing to tell her mother. And it was especially embarrassing when her mother snorted and burst into laughter. Maeri snapped her head up and glared at her mother. “What is it? What’s so funny?”

“You,” her mother answered, pointing the ladle at her daughter. “That’s sounds so much like you.” She then returned to the pot boiling on the stove, but didn’t stop talking. “The whole cheating thing didn’t, but you trying to convince yourself…” her voice dropped off and she clicked her tongue. “You’re a silly girl.”

“Incredibly silly,” Maeri agreed.

“Unless.” Her mother stepped closer to her and dropped her voice. “Unless there’s something wrong with _that_ boy.”

“There’s nothing wrong!” When Maeri noticed that she’d raised her voice, she took in a deep breath and lowered it, “There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s nice, and he’s…not bad looking.”

“Maeri,” the elder chided her. “It _really_ doesn’t sound like you like him.”

“I do!” Maeri exclaimed, waving her arms in the air. “I like him a lot. I think he’s handsome. And I like him a lot.” She huffed. “Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Eung,” her mom hummed. “You know for the last 15 years, whenever you liked someone, whenever you were dating someone, I had to hear it from Woohyun first. You never told me. Your relationship with this kid included.” She then cupped her daughter’s cheek. “So to _finally_ hear about it from you, it’s nice.” She lightly slapped Maeri’s cheek a few times before returning back to the stove.

“I’m sorry. I’ll be better about it,” Maeri promised. “I’ll be more honest from now on.” _To everyone, including myself_. She sighed and lifted herself off from the island. “Is there anything I can help with?”

“Can you plate the side dishes?” the elder asked. As Maeri was pulling Tupperware from the fridge, her mother decided to test Maeri’s new pledge: “And what about Woohyun? What are you going to do about him?”

Maeri put the Tupperware on the counter before wrapping her fingers around the edges. “I don’t know,” she replied, truthfully. “He doesn’t want to talk to me.”

“Well, can you blame him?” her mother challenged.

“No,” Maeri answered. “I wouldn’t want to talk to me either. But…” She opened up one of the containers and started to scoop some of it out. “That’s all I want to do. I want to talk to him. Apologize. Tell him that I didn’t mean to hurt him. I want to make amends. But don’t think we can.”

“You two will. Give it time,” her mother assured her.

“I hope you’re right,” Maeri responded but her hope was fading fast. As the days ticked by without them talking, her hope for their reconciliation waned. _It seems impossible now._

“Are you happy?” That question made Maeri whip her head around to look at her mother. The old woman was looking right back at her. “When you’re with Sunggyu, are you happy?”

Maeri thought it over for a few seconds before answering, “When I’m with him…” Instead of confirming it with words, Maeri nodded. Like everything else, this was also embarrassing for her to admit. The only times that she’d been happy recently was when she was with Sunggyu. Her lips would automatically turn up into a smile, and her anxious heart was finally at ease. Although everything in her world seemed wrong, being with Sunggyu felt right (and Maeri knew that it was the same for him; she knew it every time his gloomy face would light up around her).

Her mother walked up to her and gave her a hug. “That’s all a mother could really ask for. I just want you to be happy,” she spoke softly and then gave her daughter a squeeze before letting go. “When you’re done there, can you set the table?”

“Eung,” Maeri grunted as she continued with the task. While she did, her mind circled around what her mother had just said. _Happy? Me too. I want to be happy, on my own._ And Maeri knew the first step towards that goal: “Mom, can I move back in?”

“Of course,” her mother replied quickly. Her gaze flickered over to her daughter. “I think that’s the right thing to do. You look like death.” She returned her attention back to the food on the stove. “Stay and get better.”

“Thank you,” Maeri responded and then went to set the table. When she got there, her stomach was already churning, just seeing the side dishes on the table. She was getting nauseous again. It had been happening a lot lately. Because of it, she couldn’t eat well, which only made the situation worse. Her stomach was too acidic (she felt like she was eating more antacids than actual food recently). _I’m going to give myself ulcers at this rate_.

It wasn’t because of whatever she’d caught from Sunggyu. Maeri had a habit of internalizing things. On the outside, she’d smile and pretend like everything was fine (and sometimes the smile was natural when she with Sunggyu), but her feelings manifested and festered inside. And now Maeri’s guilt was literally eating at her.

* * *

The dinner went well and went awkwardly at the same time. Lately, when Maeri had been coming home, the table had been fuller, with Jonghyun and the Nams. It felt empty without them. And Sunggyu was sitting at Woohyun’s usual spot, by Maeri’s side. The atmosphere was tense and the conversation stilted, at first, but it soon improved. And Maeri was able to eat more than she had in a while. It was nice. When it was over and Maeri was clearing the table, her father whispered to her saying that Sunggyu was ‘appropriate.’ Indeed, any man willing to suffer through her father’s teasing was fit to be called ‘appropriate.’

Also after dinner was finished and the table was cleared, it was time for Sunggyu to leave (and for Maeri to get her things from the car). Maeri followed him out and to the car. She went around to the back, towards the trunk, and took out her bag once Sunggyu had opened the door for her. “Thanks,” she said, grappling with the large duffle bag, which she had over stuffed, putting as much as she could in there so that she didn’t have to go back anytime soon. Maeri turned to him. “Thanks for coming.”

Sunggyu chuckled. “I didn’t really have a choice,” he retorted. “Your dad dragged me inside.”

“True,” Maeri agreed. “But you didn’t have to drive me here. So thanks for that.”

“Oh that?” Sunggyu remarked as he leaned against the car. “That was nothing.”

Maeri hobbled over to him, her bag hovering over the ground, but once she reached him, she dropped it. “It meant a lot, really,” she told him.

“I know,” Sunggyu stated. “Do you need help with that?” he asked, nodding towards the bag.

“Do you want to go back inside?” she turned the question around.

“Ah, no, not really,” he answered honestly. “You can carry that on your own. You’re a strong woman. I’ve seen you carry a grown man before.”

Maeri sputtered into an embarrassed chuckle. “That wasn’t one of my proudest moments,” she admitted.

“Why not?” Sunggyu challenged. “Be proud of it. You’re practically Kim Bok Joo.”

“Does that make you Jung Joonhyung?”

“Of course,” Sunggyu responded, lifting himself off of the car. “Who else would he be?”

“How could you be a swimmer? Aren’t you afraid of the water?” Maeri challenged.

Sunggyu gasped. “Who told you?”

Maeri’s eyes widened and she laughed in disbelief. “Gyu, I was just guessing,” she revealed.

“Ah,” Sunggyu muttered before he started to laugh unnaturally. “I was joking. Seriously I was. I can swim. Who’s afraid of water? Not me,” that defense didn’t convince Maeri, but she also wasn’t in the position to make fun of him. He was afraid of water. She was afraid of fire. She had just lit her first match earlier this year, after years and years of being afraid to do so. _What a pair we make. A pair of scaredy cats._

 _Speaking of being a pair_ …“Oh right,” Maeri muttered. “Before you go, I thought I should tell you.” Sunggyu raise his head and waited for her to continue. “My parents seemed to like you. My dad even said that you were appropriate.”

“What? Appropriate?” he sputtered. “What does that mean?”

“Coming from him, that’s high praise,” Maeri replied.

“Really?”

“Really. Trust me.” she replied with a nod. Maeri didn’t want to read too much into it, but at its surface, ‘appropriate’ meant that Sunggyu was polite and cordial; he said and did the right things at the right time. Reading (probably) too much into it, her father meant that Sunggyu was ‘appropriate’ for her. Maeri thought the former meaning was more likely (she knew who her parents favored). But to ease Sunggyu’s mind, she took both of his hands into hers and assured him, “Sunggyu, you’re welcome here anytime.”

“Thanks, but…will _you_ always be here? All the time?” he asked, eyes fixed on their hands as he swayed them a bit.

“Hm?” Maeri hummed, swaying herself. “No, I’m not grounded or anything. I’m almost 31. I can leave the house whenever I want,” she boasted.

Sunggyu raised his gaze. “Even if it’s just to hang out with me?”

“Especially for just that,” Maeri replied. She then squeezed his hands before letting go of them in order to pick her bag up. “It’s getting late, and it’s cold,” she stated. As it was still winter, the both of them were shivering and their extremities were slowly growing red and numb, especially Maeri’s, who walked out with only her sweater on. She didn’t want to say goodbye just yet, but she also didn’t want to lose her fingers to frostbite. “Drive safely, okay?”

“I will,” Sunggyu promised. He then quickly leaned in, but Maeri backed away. Her eyes flew to her door. She didn’t want to get caught by her parents again. But when her gaze returned to the man in front of her, she saw his hurt expression. “Just one,” he begged.

Maeri put down her bag again. “Just one,” she lied and kissed him twice. When she pulled away, she wished him a good night. And Sunggyu got into the car and left, waving at Maeri as he passed her by. Maeri sighed after she saw the car turn at corner at the end of her street. Then suddenly she was reminded by the winter chill biting her. “Ah cold!” she yelped, picked up her bag, and waddled back into the house.

But Maeri wasn’t the only one who watched Sunggyu leave.

When Woohyun was walking up to his street with Jonghyun under his arm, he noticed the car stopping at the corner. He recognized it and stopped in his tracks. _That’s Dongwoo’s car_ , he thought. _What is Dongwoo doing here? To see me?_ His arm fell away from Jonghyun, and he took a step, about to sprint towards the car and surprise Dongwoo. However, when the car pulled up a bit more, coming underneath the light of the streetlamp, Woohyun stopped. Dongwoo wasn’t in the car.

“Why is he here?” Woohyun sneered as he watched the car turn in the opposite direction.

“That ahjussi?” Jonghyun asked as he came up to his hyung’s side. “He dropped Maeri off,” he explained.

“Maeri’s here?!” Woohyun explained, eyes automatically darting everywhere, searching for her. _Why? Why now?_ Woohyun then closed his eyes, giving up the search, and rubbed his face in irritation. He used to like that they shared the same thoughts at times, but now it was incredibly irritating. _Why are you following me now? Why did you bring him here?_

“Eung. Noona came right before you did, hyung,” Jonghyun continued and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat. He’d noticed that Woohyun was distressed, and he glared down the street where the car had just gone. “But I don’t like that ahjussi,” Jonghyun spoke darkly and lowly. “He looks like a Tibetan fox.”

That made Woohyun laugh. He opened up his eyes and patted the younger on the head. “He does, doesn’t he?” Woohyun agreed and then added, “You can’t trust foxes, Jonghyun. Remember that.” Jonghyun nodded, engraving that in his young mind. And the two wished each other good night and went into their respective houses, but Woohyun didn’t do so until he looked over at the Yoo house and caught a glimpse of Maeri’s bedroom window, with the light on. _So she really is home._ He sighed and stepped inside.

Up until this point, coming home had been healing. His mother missed her youngest soon, even more so since the recent turn of events, and pampered him. His father also seemed to be doing better than he’d had been, giving Woohyun hope that his suffering too would soon pass. And finally, meeting with Jonghyun was healing; nothing between them had changed. They talked about soccer, video games, and school and nothing more. He was glad that his resentment for one of the Yoos had not trickled down to the rest, unconsciously and undeservingly. He’d been worried about that happening. After everything, Nam Woohyun was still acting like Nam Woohyun, even if he didn’t feel much like himself anymore.

But now, home felt like a dangerous place to be, with his enemy just across the street. However there was a way that he could escape. Woohyun pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed out a message.

* * *

Maeri was laying in her bed, with her eyes closed but the light in her room still on. She had collapsed onto her bed after lugging her bag up the stairs. It had sapped more energy out of her than she expected. The sickness was taking a toll on her body. When did I become so weak?

“Noona.”

Maeri opened her eyes and sat up on her bed. Jonghyun was standing in her doorway, tapping away on his phone. She grinned at her dongsaeng. “Oh, you’re back? How was it?” she asked.

“Good,” that was as much information as she expected from him. Then Jonghyun lifted his gaze from the phone up to his sister. “Hyung wants to know if he could have the apartment.”

Maeri stiffened and muttered, “What?”

“The apartment,” Jonghyun repeated a bit too curtly, growing impatient with his sister.

“Uh, sure, of course,” Maeri stammered out an answer. “Ask him to give me the weekend in order to move out. Then…it’s all his,” she bargained. It was the least she could do for Woohyun right now.

As Jonghyun was typing out a reply to his hyung, he asked his sister, “Do you need help?”

Maeri raised an eyebrow. “You’d help me move out?” she asked, surprised. As Jonghyun was getting older, it seemed like he wanted to have less and less to do with his sister, turning her away for his friends and for the Nam brothers. Maeri couldn’t blame him. Jonghyun was trying to figure out how to be his own person, to be independent, and Maeri was 18 years older than him and was probably more of a motherly figure to him than a sisterly one. So this offer touched her.

“Yea,” Jonghyun replied, acting as if it were no big deal. “If I have nothing else better to do.”

“You _do_ like me,” Maeri spoke her thoughts out loud, still in shock.

Jonghyun frowned. “I still like hyung more,” he retorted and stuck out his tongue. “Good night, noona,” he said with a wave and left.

“Night!” Maeri shouted after him. But instead of flopping back down on her bed, she slipped out and went over to her window, looking out to the Nam house. She folded her arms on the windowsill and rested her chin on top of them. “Are you home too?” she asked her estranged friend in the other house. “Will we come across each other? If we did, would you talk to me? I won’t, if you don’t want to,” she promised him. And like she’d been In the habit of doing for the last 15 years, Maeri said, “Good night, Woohyun,” and turned out the lights to go to bed.

* * *

It wasn’t much longer until the weekend came. The long-labored auction was over and had gone on without a hitch, and now Maeri finally had time to pack up her things from the apartment. After a breakfast of miyeokguk, Maeri and Jonghyun got into their parents’ car and made their way to the apartment. Her parents couldn’t come help because they’d made plans with the Nams. Maeri wasn’t disappointed in the least. No, in fact, she was glad. Her rift with Woohyun didn’t tear their parents’ friendship apart. What could she be upset about? And as a grown woman, she could pack up and clean up without their help, but she did need some help. In addition to Jonghyun, whom she expected to leave whenever he found something more interesting to do, Sunggyu was coming over to help. Although it was terrible to think so, Maeri was a bit happy that Sunggyu had no friends here besides herself now because he was agreeing to do things that he probably would have not agreed to normally, like spending his Saturday packing and cleaning (well, of course, there was also the fact that he liked her, but Maeri didn’t want to get a big head).

While Maeri and Jonghyun were taking clothes out of her closet, Sunggyu showed up. She threw the clothes onto the bed (and somewhat onto her little brother) and rushed to the door. “Hi,” she greeted Sunggyu. “Thanks for coming,” she said before he stepped inside.

“It’s nothing,” he dismissed it as he slipped off his shoes. Maeri helped him to take his coat off and then she folded it in her hands, smiling as he turned back towards her. “So…”

“Noona! What are you doing?” Jonghyun came out of her bedroom, yelling, and with an arm full of her clothes. Then he stopped and glared once his eyes caught the man who’d just come. “Oh, hello ahjussi,” he greeted with a cold voice. He then faced his sister. “I’m going to toss these in a new box, okay?”

Maeri just stared at him, blinking, and finally came to when the boy went back into the room. “Y-yah! Jonghyun-ah!” she shouted, but it was too late. With an embarrassed smile, Maeri glanced over to Sunggyu. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why he keeps calling you that.”

“I do,” Sunggyu admitted as the both of them walked slowly over to the bedroom. “He doesn’t like me.” Maeri sighed and hung her head. Her brother was a little too honest with his feelings, so she apologized again for him. But Sunggyu shook his head and patted her shoulder. “I understand. I was that age once too, but…when do you think he will?”

Maeri nervously fiddled with his coat, which she was still holding. “Whenever he stops idolizing Woohyun?” she tried to make it out as a joke, cutting it with a smile.

But Sunggyu knew it to be true. “So never?” he asked.

“Hopefully not,” Maeri responded. “But...I’m in the same boat as you are.”

“Eh,” Sunggyu disagreed, nudging her. “He likes you.”

“It doesn’t feel like it, sometimes, especially recently,” nearing the end, her voice was just above a whisper. Honestly, she didn’t blame Jonghyun for favoring his precious hyung now. She would too in his position.

“But he’s here,” Sunggyu pointed out and then pointed towards her dongsaeng that was grappling with a large wad of clothes and shoving them into a box. Maeri grinned as she watched Jonghyun. He was earnestly helping. Once again she was touched.

“Yea, he is,” she spoke softly, but then her voice burst as she called after her brother, “Jonghyun-ah! Can I get you something to eat? To drink? Anything?”

* * *

Now with Sunggyu’s help, they finished the bedroom quickly and had moved into the living room, but they took a break for lunch first. Well, it was more like the two boys were complaining of starvation, and Maeri had no choice but to stop. She wasn’t going to get any packing done with the both of them laying on the floor and whining. Those two are going to get along just fine, she thought as she stepped over the both of them to order them food.

After lunch, there was another phone call. Sora called her; she needed the keys to the auction house. She had left some things she needed there after the auction wrapped up, but she had rushed out of there without them, eager to get home (or to her date, she had muttered something about it to Maeri but she’d missed it). So a few minutes after they began packing up Maeri’s books, Sora came, and Maeri greeted her at the door.

“Here you go,” Maeri said as she plopped the keys into her coworker’s hands.

“Oh thanks,” Sora muttered, distracted. She wasn’t looking at the keys, but was trying to peer around Maeri into the apartment. “You moving?” she asked. Sora must’ve caught sight of the boxes on the floor.

Maeri leaned against the door and shut the door a little, hoping that her coworker wouldn’t catch sight of anything (or anyone) else. “Yea, I’m moving,” she replied.

Sora faced her friend, showing her a wolfish grin. “So that’s Sunggyu, huh? Wasn’t he the guy at the auction?”

“Wh-what?” Maeri blubbered.

“Sungjong told me,” Sora revealed. Maeri hung her head and drug her finger down the door. Of course Sungjong knew. He knew Woohyun’s friends. He knew everything. And this past week, Sungjong acted like he knew, waiting, always waiting for Maeri to tell him something. But she never did. So he must’ve told Sora when he couldn’t take it anymore. Sora continued, “But that’s the guy, right? From the date auction? Who was in a bidding war over you?”

“Yea,” Maeri answered reluctantly and let go of the door, letting it swing wide open. She had nothing to hide anymore. And thankfully Sunggyu and Jonghyun were too busy figuring out to put all of the books into one box to listen to their conversation. “Yes, that’s him,” Maeri said as she faced her coworker again. “That’s Sunggyu. That’s the guy I cheated on Woohyun with,” she spoke bluntly, just getting it all out there.

“He’s cute,” Sora responded. Maeri’s mouth hung open in disbelief. She knew that Sora liked playing a man-eater, but Maeri had been worried about bringing this up with Sora, after what Kwanghee did to her, especially after seeing Sora near tears when she met with her husband again. So Maeri did not expect Sora to praise Sunggyu. _What’s going on in your head, Sora?_

And it was as if Sora was asking herself the same thing, but in regards to Maeri. She knocked Maeri’s head lightly with her fist. “Don’t look at me like that,” she warned her. “And don’t get me wrong, I liked Woohyun, I did. But there was always something…off about you two.”

Maeri stepped in closer and whispered, “What do you mean?”

Sora laughed. “Childhood friends that finally fell in love after over a decade of being with each other? Eh, come on,” she said with a scoff. “I can understand maybe you taking five years to realize that you were in love because you’re a bit slow, but ten? More than ten?” Maeri frowned at that, but seeing how things happened with Sunggyu, she took that hit. It was right on target. Sora continued, “It’s not like you knew each other from infancy. You could’ve dated at any point in time. If it didn’t happen within those ten years, then it wasn’t going to happen at all.”

Maeri sighed. “You might have a point,” she grumbled, not really wanting to admit to it. “How are you so perceptive?” she tried praising Sora to put an end to the conversation.

“I’ve always been perceptive in all relationships but my own,” Sora declared; even though it was a self-diss she said it with her usual grin. “Like you and that guy.”

“Me and Gyu?” Maeri asked. “What about us?”

Sora was gazing past Maeri, at the two boys across the room, and Maeri craned her neck back to see them as well. Sunggyu was still struggling to fit all of the books into a single box and had nearly accomplished doing so. But whenever he thought he was done, Jonghyun would come over and place another book by him. When the boy came over for the fifth time with a large book, Sunggyu snapped, “Stop it! Just bring the rest over! Stop bringing them to me one by one!”

“I…” Jonghyun stammered. “I was just trying to help.” He dropped the book onto the ground with a big thud and then sulked over into the kitchen.

Scared stiff, after Jonghyun had gone past him, Sunggyu hazard a glance over at Maeri, who was looking back at him and witnessing everything. He gave her a small, pathetic smile and then got up, following Jonghyun into the kitchen. “Jonghyun-ah, I’m sorry.”

Maeri shook her head as she watched Sunggyu disappear into the kitchen. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned back around to see Sora shaking her head at her. “See,” Sora began. “You two suit each other. This guy is more of your speed.”

“Thanks?” Maeri didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not (or what it revealed about herself).

“No problem,” Sora responded. “See you Monday. Bye!”

“Goodbye.” Maeri waved as her coworker left. When the door was shut again, Maeri immediately run and slid into the kitchen, only to see the two picking at the leftovers from lunch. “Hungry again?” she asked in disbelief. They both nodded, innocently. Maeri sighed. _What was I even worried about? These two get along just fine_.

* * *

It wasn’t long after until Jonghyun left. But before he left, of course he had to mention food again. He reminded his sister not to be late for dinner, that she shouldn’t keep everyone waiting. Maeri promised she wouldn’t, and then her bother said goodbye to her and to ‘ahjussi’ and left. Thankfully, there wasn’t much more to do than to clean up. And so Sunggyu (who was very very tired) took the opportunity while Maeri was cleaning the bathroom, and hid.

What tired Sunggyu out the most wasn’t the packing or the tad bit of cleaning he did, it was trying to be on his best behavior around Jonghyun. Yes, he was once Jonghyun’s age, but that hadn’t been for a long, long time, and even Sunggyu’s own students were older than Jonghyun. And so Sunggyu had forgotten how to act around twelve year-olds. What was appropriate? What did they like? He didn’t know anymore. _How can those two do it? How can they overcome the gap?_ Sunggyu had to figure out how quickly. Jonghyun was precious to Maeri, very much so, (which is probably why she always felt like her feelings her one-sided). And so Jonghyun was going to be precious to Sunggyu as well because…

Sunggyu closed his eyes tightly as he thought over the reason. It was too soon, wasn’t it? And it felt like it was too soon for Maeri to find him too, but she did. Her head peeked underneath the dining table, where Sunggyu was hiding, and she asked, “What are you doing? Are you asleep?”

“No. I’m hiding from you,” Sunggyu replied truthfully. He rolled onto his side and pouted. “I don’t want to pack anymore,” he whined.

“You suck at hiding,” Maeri retorted. “I can finish the rest on my own. Get out from under there and go home,” she offered. She then bowed and said in a polite tone, “Thank you for your hard work.”

“Come under here with me.”

“Hm?”

“Come on,” Sunggyu urged her, patting the spot next to him. Maeri gave in, but she didn’t do so quietly. No, she was laughing as she crawled underneath the table in order to lay next to Sunggyu. “Why are you laughing?

“The last time I was under here with you,” she recalled and hid her quickly blushing face with her hands.

“You remember?” Sunggyu faced her and tried to pull her hands down. Even her ears were bright red. There was no point in trying to hide it anymore; it was too obvious.

Maeri let him remove her hands, but then she rolled closer and pressed her face into his shoulder. “Of course, it was so embarrassing,” her voice was muffled.

Sunggyu chuckled as he put his arm and her and pat her head. “You, you’re _really_ passionate about furniture,” he teased. “You have so many books about it. And it was the first time in my life that I saw someone looking underneath the table, appraising it as if it were art.”

Maeri puffed a breath into his shirt and lifted her head to look at him. “Sungjong said you were out,” she defended herself.

“I was,” Sunggyu told her. “But then I came back to a crazy woman underneath my table.” Maeri groaned and lowered her head again. “Why are you embarrassed? It was cute,” he assured her. He then coaxed her to lift her head again, and she did slowly. “I was embarrassing. Showed you my tooth.”

“Right,” Maeri muttered under her breath. Her brows scrunched together and her gaze wasn’t fixed on his eyes but down to his mouth, his lips. _What is she doing? Does she_ …Sunggyu lowered his head a bit closer, and Maeri whispered his name, “Sunggyu….Why _do_ you have so many gold teeth?”

“What?!” he pulled away, sputtering in a chuckle in disbelief.

“I’m being serious,” Maeri responded with a cheeky smile. “I’ve been wondering for a long time. Why? Are you _that_ bad at brushing your teeth? Flossing? Do you hate the taste of toothpaste? Do you even know what a toothbrush looks like? Do you…”

“Stop it!” Sunggyu cut her off and stopped her from asking any other silly questions with his hand over her mouth. He could feel her smiling growing beneath his hands. She was having fun teasing him and was pleased with the result. _This girl_. “Stop,” Sunggyu warned her lowly before removing his hand.

“Your breath smells good,” she said as soon as her mouth was free.

“Thanks. I brush my teeth,” he replied.

Maeri giggled and tapped him. “I know. I know.” She then rolled over onto her back again, staring up at the underside of the table. A contented smile slipped through her lips. Sunggyu hadn’t seen her this pleased in a while; it pleased him too. Lately, she looked grey and sickly, but now, even though they were in under the shadows of the table, she was starting to glow again. His light.

“Maeri, do remember what you asked me the first day we met?” he asked but not without hesitation.

“I asked you a lot of things,” Maeri recalled. She turned her head to look at him, showing a sheepish grin. “But I guess you’re referring to the soul mate thing.”

This was going well. “Yea, I am.” He then paused before continuing, his eyes looking at the small space between them now, “You know, when you first asked me, I thought you were trying to hit on me.”

“Wh-what?” she blubbered. Her hands went straight to her face again as it was growing redder than before. “Oh my god. Of course you did,” she spoke with a groan. Then she lowered her hands just enough to reveal her eyes and look at Sunggyu. “You know, I wasn’t. I really wasn’t,” Maeri insisted.

“I know that _now_ ,” Sunggyu responded. His teeth gritted together for a second at the memory. “And I know who you were thinking about when you asked that.” Maeri groaned again and was muttering ‘sorry’ under her breath, underneath the safety of her hands. But her hands couldn’t cover the redness overtaking her entire head now. “Can your face get any redder?” Sunggyu teased her and tried to tug her hands away, but this time Maeri was adamant that they stay put.

“It can’t. So stop saying these things,” she told him. Her hands dropped again and she commanded, “Stop.” But Sunggyu didn’t want to stop the conversation right there. There was still something that he wanted to know, something important. He put up a finger. “What?” Maeri asked.

“One more. Can I ask one more thing?” he begged, and Maeri nodded reluctantly, watching him very closely. “Do you still believe in them? Soul mates?”

Maeri averted her gaze, looking back up at the table, but she still answered, “Yea, I do.” Her eyes then flickered over to him. “You?”

“Maybe.”

“Oh,” Maeri gasped and clapped her hands together, as if it were something amazing (and perhaps to her it was). She soon explained why: “‘Maybe’ is better than last time. All that crap about free will and destiny and...I’m shutting up. I’ll be quiet now,” she ended quickly, pursing her lips shut, after she noticed that Sunggyu was frowning.

Sunggyu chuckled a bit at her reaction and then revealed, “You know, even with all that free will and philosophical crap, there’s something that I still like.” Maeri narrowed her eyes on him and waited for him to continue, which he did, “Horoscopes.”

Her eyes lit up. “You like those too?” she exclaimed.

“You do?”

“Eung,” Maeri hummed and proudly told him, “I’m a Capricorn. A goat.”

“And I’m a Taurus,” he responded. “We’re supposed to go well together.” At that, Maeri curled up into a fit of laughter. Sunggyu felt his heart drop from his chest. “Wh-what?”

“You totally looked up my sign. Ow!” Maeri’s laughter stopped as Sunggyu tried to push her out from under the table.

“Get out from under _my_ table,” he ordered her.

“I bought it!” Maeri reminded him (loudly) and now was trying to get him out from under the table. After shoving each other for awhile, Maeri had caught his hands and clasped them together. Now she was fighting him with her feet. “This table is mine now! You get out! You!”

“A-ah, okay. Okay,” Sunggyu finally gave in and slipped out from under the table, away from her. He stood up straight, groaning. “You kick hard,” he whined, trying to look hurt.

But Maeri didn’t look like she felt too bad. She crawled out from the table after him, smiling. “I played soccer,” she boasted as she stood up herself. Maeri then pretended to kick him. “Goal!”

“Red card,” Sunggyu warned her, stepping away just in case her kick were to connect. Maeri giggled; her blush was deepening again. So she did feel remorse. She slowly stepped closer to him and reached for his hand, probably making sure that he wasn’t really upset with her. He wasn’t. He accepted her hand happily. And with his other hand, Sunggyu patted the table, calling her attention back to it. “What are we going to do about this, though? I don’t think there’s enough room in your parents’ place. Would it be okay if it stayed here?” he asked. Indeed, it was the only thing of hers that they couldn’t stuff into the box, or even fit into the car with everything else.

“No, tomorrow I’ll put it into storage,” she concluded. “I wanna keep it for later.”

“Hm?”

“It’s important to you and your family, and later on...it could still be important for...future family-ness,” she had started off her explanation confidently, but as she continued, her voice got smaller and smaller. Yet, she couldn’t just stop what she was saying. Things would be more awkward if she didn’t because Sunggyu would keep pressuring her to continue. But she said it. She said it all.

And a large smile spread across Sunggyu’s face. “You totally want to marry me and have my kids,” he joked with her.

Maeri scoffed and nudged him with her shoulder. “Your kids? Our kids. They’d be coming out of me. They’d be more mine than yours,” she argued, making Sunggyu laugh at how ridiculous they were being. But it was fun. Being with Maeri was fun. However, when his laughter started dying down, he realized that Maeri wasn’t laughing. She wasn’t smiling either. Her face paled. “I should clean,” she muttered under her breath before going into the kitchen, leaving Sunggyu behind, confused and cold.

Sunggyu didn’t linger by the table for long. He was curious about the clanking and low murmuring that was echoing in the kitchen. Hesitantly, he walked over there and stopped at the doorway. Maeri was furiously killing the range, accidentally knocking things over as she did so. And she was muttering to herself, “I shouldn’t be talking about stuff like this. I can’t. I’m getting ahead of myself again. First things first. But what’s first? Aish. I don’t know.”

“We were just joking,” Sunggyu broke into her rambling.

“Ack!” Maeri yelped, jumping up and dropping the scrubber. When she opened her eyes and saw Sunggyu, Maeri let out a breath and grabbed her heart. “Oh my gosh you scared me,” she told him. “You weren’t supposed to hear that.” She then hit her mouth, reprimanding herself, and bent down to pick up the scrubber.

“It’s okay. We were just joking,” Sunggyu repeated as he walked up to her. He had a tenous smile on his face, trying to make her less anxious. “It’s not like we’re going to get married soon just because we joked about it.” _I’m not even sure if we are even dating now or not_ , Sunggyu thought. “Who would do that?”

“I did!” Maeri snapped and straightened up. She flailed her arms as she ranted, “I got into this entire mess because of joking, taking jokes too far, playing along. But that’s going to stop now. No more joking.” Maeri blew out a breath, trying to calm herself down. She closed her eyes and then opened them slowly. “I want to have a serious, adult relationship…with you.”

 _With me?_ Sunggyu sniggered. “How do you have one of those?”

“I was hoping that you’d tell me. If we both don’t know, then we’re doomed to fail,” Maeri joked, and then her eyes widened when she realized that she just broke her promise. “Aish!” she cursed and hit her mouth again. “Stop it. Stop it. No more joking,” Maeri mumbled under her breath and she continued scrubbing the range.

Sunggyu watched her for a few moments. He didn’t know how to feel right now. One moment, he felt like Maeri was his, but at another moment, he didn’t. And now Maeri was changing (or trying to) right before his eyes. Her bright personality was dimming, and now she claimed that she’d put an end to all over her joking. Sunggyu loved how they could joke and play around, as if they’d known each other for years (like her and Woohyun). It was one of the reasons why he felt so comfortable around her. It was one of the reasons why he was starting to think that they were soul… _Wait a second!_

“Wait,” he murmured aloud as he pulled out his phone. He was a fan of horoscopes all right. So much so that he really did look up her birthday to check her sign. But the thing about Capricorns was that they had birthdays in the winter, specifically around this time. He remembered seeing the date on her profile but couldn’t exactly remember it. So he pulled up her profile and there it was. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What? What is it?” Maeri was now cleaning out the fridge and peeked over the door towards the other. “What is it?” she repeated.

“Maeri, why didn’t you tell me?” he pressed her, but she looked at him, blinking and not knowing what he was referring to. _Do I really have to remind her? Is she really this out of sorts?_ Sunggyu sighed. Maeri was exactly that, so he told her, “It’s your birthday.”

Maeri winced and her hands flew to her head. “That’s right. I forgot. I had seaweed soup this morning, and I still forgot,” she spoke with a groan and hung over the fridge door, limp. “Jonghyun’s birthday is tomorrow, and I haven’t gotten him anything yet,” her voice was muffled as her cheek was smooshed against the top of the door.

“Yea, but it’s your birthday today,” Sunggyu said once again.

“It is,” she grumbled and lifted herself off of the door. She then closed it and quickly set what she was holding onto the counter. “I have to go home. They’re waiting for me,” Maeri said as she scurried past Sunggyu towards the door. “And I’m late!”

“Yea but…” Sunggyu tried to argue as he followed her, but she was already stuffing her feet into shoes. Sunggyu just stood in front of her. _But what about me?_ he let that question bounce around in his mind. He wanted to celebrate her and the fact that she was alive and in his life (and “casually” bring up his own birthday months away). However, it seemed like that would have to wait. Maeri needed to go home, be with her family, get better. _It’ll take time_ , Sunggyu had to remind himself. _I can’t expect her run to me and act like everything is okay_. But he also couldn’t help but to grow impatient, still waiting even though she was by his side. _But we’re not there yet._

Maeri wobbled a bit as she stood back up. “Sorry about running out like this,” she apologized.

Sunggyu shook his head. “It’s okay,” he assured her, but he knew that his face showed how unhappy he was, especially since Maeri tried to lift his frown into a smile with her fingers. Even though Maeri wasn’t herself lately, even though she was out of sorts, whatever form of Maeri she was being at the moment, every one of her cared about Sunggyu.

“Sorry,” Maeri said again, dropping her fingers from his face. “Oh what?” she muttered as Sunggyu opened up his arms for a hug.

“Come here,” he told her. She readily walked into his arms and hugged him back, her head resting against his shoulder. “Let’s celebrate tomorrow. I’ll buy you something, okay?” Sunggyu promised.

“Okay.” Sunggyu could feel her move her head, nodding.

“What do you want?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Maeri muttered.

Sunggyu sighed. He thought as much. “Then I’ll think of something,” he offered. “Maeri, happy birthday.”

“Thank you. Thanks a lot,” Maeri said as she patted his back gently.

Even though Sunggyu didn’t realize that her birthday was today until 5 minutes ago, he still had a ‘gift’’ to give her: “I love you. Oomf.” Maeri had knocked the air out of him, clenching his mid-section tightly. Sunggyu looked down at her, but she hid her face. Yet her red ears were peeking through her hair. And Sunggyu was finding it hard to regain the lost breath, not just because Maeri was still squeezing him tightly, but because she still had said anything in response yet. She was quiet for a (heart)beat too long.

“I like you,” Maeri finally replied. “I like you a lot. A whole lot. A whole lot a lot.” She then pulled herself away, removing her hands from him and clasping them in front of her. “I’m sorry,” she apologized yet again. “I have to go. They’re waiting. They get cranky when they can’t eat.”

 _What did I expect? For her to say it back?_ Sunggyu knew it was too soon to say it, and he was beginning to regret saying it at all. But then Maeri raised her head, showing that she was fighting back a too large smile. Maybe this time, his timing was alright. Sunggyu grinned too. “Alright. Take care,” he wished her as she put on her coat.

“You too,” Maeri responded and stretched up to kiss him. “Take care,” she whispered as she pulled away. She went to the door and opened it. But instead of walking through it, she turned back to Sunggyu. “Aren’t you leaving too?”

“Oh right,” he muttered. “I don’t live here.” And he quickly put his shoes and coat on so that they could leave, together.

* * *

Maeri had a hard time saying goodbye to Sunggyu that night. Honestly, she had wanted to invite him to her birthday dinner too, but given the situation, she didn’t think that was wise. Not only because she knew that Woohyun was still right across the street from her, but because she wanted to still be the independent woman that she always thought she was. Before, Maeri hadn’t realized how much she relied on Woohyun or small things, whenever she stepped outside her comfort zone. She always wanted one thing ‘comfortable’ in those situations, and that had been Woohyun. She never went to a new place alone, never watched a movie alone, rarely really did anything alone. And now, when she was a bit uncomfortable with her parents (and tonight she’d be the center of their attention), she wanted to bring Sunggyu along. But she didn’t want to become too reliant on him, like she had with Woohyun.

And although Sunggyu seemed a bit frustrated with her at the moment, he also seemed to understand. Maeri wanted to be with him, but she needed to grow a bit more on her own, to fix herself. Soon, she’d be able to give herself fully to him. But first she needed to be ‘full’ on her own. So even though it seemed silly, going to her parents’ home alone tonight was a small step in that direction.

But that night ended up being a bigger step than she thought. Maeri should’ve realized something was up when her mother welcomed her inside and there were more voices filling her house than just her father and brother. She should’ve noticed the extra shoes by the door. But she didn’t. So when she walked into the kitchen, Maeri was shocked. Sitting at the table with her father and Jonghyun were Woohyun’s parents, who came to celebrate her birthday, even after everything that had happened. Maeri cried, happy tears, tears of relief. This was the best gift that they could’ve given her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said in the beginning, next chapter will be Woohyun focused as it's about the events surrounding his birthday and a bit afterwards. Thanks so much for reading and bearing with me!


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